


Broken Wings and Strawberry Cream

by sunshineklaus



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Addiction, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:46:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 29,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26944645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunshineklaus/pseuds/sunshineklaus
Summary: Almost a decade after returning home from the war and coming out Dave Katz is as content as is possible for him. He works, he has friends, a nice apartment. Then, a random encounter with a strange and tortured man changes his life in so many ways, he has trouble keeping up.
Relationships: Klaus Hargreeves/David "Dave" Katz
Comments: 118
Kudos: 144





	1. Chapter 1

There was a small list of things that David Katz was sure of in his life. For one, he knew he loved his family with his whole heart. Maybe he didn’t talk to his dad that much anymore, but he’ll never forget how happy he was when his dad snuck him his first beer at twelve years old after he made the winning homerun for his junior league baseball team. He managed to call his mother weekly. Her sweet voice and nurturing heart still brought him the same comfort it did when he was just a boy. Every week before the call ended she would always say “I love you Davey” and it made him want to fly home and hug her for a day straight.  


His siblings were a bit more complicated. He loved all of them and would be there for any of them in a heartbeat, even if not all would for him. Janey and Rachel, his big sisters were pretty much his best friends. His two older brothers, however, had followed suit with their dad and stopped talking to him after Dave came out.

The second thing Dave was sure of was that he was gay. Being in a nuclear family in the heart of Dallas, Texas made it hard to accept that fact; but part of him always knew. Adam and Danny were the typical big brothers. They showed him dirty magazines and laughed at his shocked reactions, teased him if they saw his eyes linger on a girl for a second longer than what was normal. So he played the role of the straight little brother, laughing along, going to them for advice when he was planning on asking out a girl. He cycled through a list of very short-term girlfriends until he left for his first tour on his eighteenth birthday. By the time he came back home with a medical discharge he was finally ready to come out. After nearly dying over a dozen times by the age of twenty-one and seeing the things he did overseas he couldn’t keep lying to himself and everybody else.

The last thing Dave was sure about was that he had a debilitating savior complex. It was a chronic issue in his childhood that apparently hadn't left him in adulthood. There were countless stories his sisters loved to tell the small list of boyfriends he had over the years to embarrass him. Like about the times he would bring home nearly dead animals to try and nurture them back to health. That usually resulted in his mother yelling at him to get out of the house and his father sneering at his tear filled eyes. Or all the times he would come home with a black eye because he stepped in the way of a bully’s fist coming towards somebody else’s face. It didn’t matter if Dave knew a person or not, he had this restless need to help everybody.

So Dave knew as soon as he saw this absolute mess of a person crying on the ground in the alley a block away from the club he and his friends were heading to that he couldn't leave them there. His friends had turned around after realizing Dave had stopped and rolled their eyes and said “Seriously Katz? Fine,do your weird-ass save the world thing but we’re leaving.” 

He watched his group of friends walk down the block for almost a minute before turning back to the task at hand. The small, scared figure hidden in the shadows. He slowly walked towards them, biting his lip. He didn’t want to scare them, they were obviously having some kind of psychotic fit. The closer he got he could tell it was a man. He was shaking uncontrollably, switching between muttering indiscernible words and then suddenly shouting, his words laced with nothing but complete fear. 

Dave knelt down in front of the man, “Hey.” he said gently. It got no reaction, he didn’t even respond. He just continued shouting at whatever he was hearing to leave him alone. His eyes were squeezed shut and he was dragging his fingers up and down his face so hard Dave was surprised he wasn’t bleeding.

“Hey…” he tried again, “You okay?”

Nothing.

He knew it wasn’t a good idea but he reached out, laying his hand on one of the man’s shoulders.

That got his attention.

The man's eyes shot open, and he tried to shove himself back into the brick wall he was up against. Dave immediately let go, “I’m sorry, I just wanted to-”

“You’re not supposed to touch me...H-How are you doing that?”

“Um…” Dave blinked, unsure how to answer the man’s strange words. It broke Dave’s heart how afraid the man was. He was young, probably around his own age. But his eyes were bloodshot and glossed over with fear. His face was completely sunken in and if they were in almost any other situation Dave would even say he was pretty.

“I’m sorry for touching you. I was just with my friends,” he waved in the direction his friends had left in, as if that would mean anything to the man, “We were...going out and I saw you here and I want to make sure you were alright.”

The man’s face scrunched up for a second, “Who are you?”

“Oh. Well, I’m Dave.”

“...You’re...You’re Dave.”

Dave gave the man a misplaced smile, “Yep, that’s me.”

The man stared at him blankly but Dave noticed some of the pain started to leave his face, his breathing starting to even out.

“Dave,” the man said again, as if he had never heard the name and was trying to figure out what exactly a Dave was.

Dave responded with a nod.

“Are you…” the man sucked in a quick breath, “Are you real Dave?”

Oh. Dave put his head down for a second. This poor guy, no wonder he was so afraid. Dave didn’t know if he was suffering from a mental illness or what, he didn’t want to assume anything. It looked to Dave however that this guy was seeing hallucinations or having flashbacks of some sort. And Dave was unfortunately familiar with those sorts of things.

“Yes. I’m real, I promise I’m real,” Dave said.

“Prove it.”

Dave coughed, and looked around, “How do I prove it?”

To his surprise the man’s face spread into a small smile and he shrugged. He didn’t give more of an answer than that.  


Dave’s mind began to race. How was he supposed to prove to this man that he was real? He wanted to help him, and he couldn't do that if the man was afraid of him.

So Dave just went with his gut. Which for some reason ended with him slapping himself across the face as hard as he could.

The man’s eyes fluttered in surprise and the lazy smirk that was on his face turned into full blown laughter. Dave's eyes widened in shock at the man, that just a few minutes ago was shaking in literal fear, who was now laughing so hard tears were practically pouring down his face. Also, he couldn't believe he just hit himself in the face for a complete stranger. If any of his friends or his sisters knew what he just did he wouldn't never hear the end of it. After a long bout of laughter the man finally sat up from where he had slumped down before, from clutching his stomach, “Dave,” he wiped the tears of laughter from his face with the back of his hand, “Dave you just slapped yourself.”

Dave blushed at his own stupid behavior and shrugged, “Um...does that prove I’m real?”

“Honestly I was expecting you to just walk away, or to punch me, or to even a give me an ol’ kiss if you were really determined to prove yourself. But hitting yourself...I never would have thought of that…”

Seriously, wasn’t this man just having a breakdown? 

“Are you okay?” he asked again.

The man did let out a shaky breath but other than that he seemed okay compared to when Dave first went over to him, “I-I’m okay...and you're Dave and you just slapped yourself in the face to prove to me that you were real.

Dave blinked, “Well...um...yeah…”

The man hummed, “Dave…” Then he reached out and took one of Dave’s hands. “You’re real, I can tell because you’re so warm.” That couldn’t have been too difficult to achieve, Dave thought. The man’s hands were freezing cold. Dave looked down and noticed the tattered and thin clothing on the man. He also looked very skinny. Was he poor? Maybe even homeless? Dave didn’t want to make any assumptions. As much as he could speculate he knew absolutely nothing about him.

“Thank you?...What’s your name?”

“I’m Klaus,” he said softly and squeezed Dave’s hand.

“Klaus. Never met anyone with that name, but I like it,” he said. “Klaus, I-I came over because you seemed like you were having a rough time.”

Klaus’s face dropped.

“No, hey it’s okay. I just...is there anything I can help you with. Do you need to borrow a phone, do you want me to get you a bus ticket somewhere?” Klaus stared at him, looking to be thinking over Dave’s offer. He dropped Dave’s hand out of his and replied.

“My brother… Diego, h-he lives a couple of blocks away from here. Can you walk me there?”

“Absolutely.” Dave sprung up, and offered his hand down to Klaus. Klaus let out a shaky giggle, and reached up to take his hand. It wasn’t hard to pull Klaus up, he was even thinner than Dave had originally thought. He was tall though, almost as tall as him. But standing, their faces only an inch apart, Dave realized that Klaus really was as pretty as he originally thought. Maybe even prettier.

Both of their eyes scanned over the other's face for a few moments until Dave coughed and this time he dropped Klaus’s hand out of his. “So which way are we going?”

Klaus pointed them in the right direction and there was about thirty seconds of silence before he spoke up. “So I’m a drug addict and can see dead people... Ya know, just to get that out of the way.” His words sounded so casual, as if he told Dave that he knitted in his free time.”

Dave took a moment, trying to think of the best way to respond to that. “Well...I’m a sugar addict and I think I saw The Sixth Sense once when I was a kid…”

“You’re funny Dave,” he drawled, leaning up against Dave as he stumbled on his still shaky legs. Dave was guessing it was the drugs that caused the shakiness, which made sense since that hadn’t gone away even though Klaus wasn't in a panic any longer, “Tell me more about you.”

Dave looked over at Klaus and offered him a small smile. “Well...I’m allergic to cats, I’m Jewish...I work at a bookstore a few blocks south of here. And when I lived at home my mom would make me a strawberry cream pie every year for my birthday. And I would get in trouble every year because I would try to eat all of it myself. So eventually she would just make two because there was no stopping me.”

Klaus grinned up at him, “So not lying about the whole sugar addict thing, huh Davey?”

“Nope,” Dave chuckled, “It really is a problem, don’t know why my Ma enabled me.”

“And my family says I have a problem...I mean opioids are one thing but eating a whole pie by yourself?” Klaus tisked.

Dave let out a fond scoff. They were probably only a minute away from where Klaus’s brother lived and he couldn’t help but be a little sad. This upbeat, funny, strange but interesting man. The start of their interaction was scary and heartbreaking but he enjoyed the conversation they were having. He even enjoyed holding that extremely cold hand for that small moment that he did. Dave breathed out, he was just helping Klaus. That’s all. They would probably never see each other again. All that mattered was that the man was safe and okay.

“Tell me something else,” Klaus said after the lull of silence.

“Davey,” he said, “You just called me Davey. My family calls me that. No friends or anybody else calls me that, just my family.”

“Oh...”

“Well I mean...I don’t mind if you call me that.” Klaus practically bounced up at that.

“Davey,” he said excitedly. Klaus really liked repeating names. It was kind of adorable.

“Tell me something about you Klaus.”

“Hmm…” Klaus patted his pointer finger on his bottom lip in thought, “Well...I’ve never had strawberry cream pie before.”

Dave gasped and stopped walking, “What? You need to try it! Next time I go down to Dallas I’m taking you with me so you can try my mom’s, she makes the best.”

Klaus giggled at the fantasy and they continued on walking, “Trying to get me addicted to something else? Doesn’t seem like something a nice southern boy like you would do...And anyway, was it a nice southern boy like you doing up north in a shithole city like this?”

Dave shrugged, “Needed a change? Needed to get away from my family?,” he offered.

Klaus nodded in understanding. Then he stopped and looked up at the apartment building they were standing in front of.

“This is it?”

“Yeah…”

“So you’re going to be okay? Do you want me to walk you up, I really don’t mi-”

Klaus smiled and reached out to pat Dave’s arm, “You’ve done enough for me tonight Davey...Meeting Diego will be worse than slapping yourself in the face, trust me…” he paused as if he had something else to say but instead took a step back.

“Okay well...I’m glad you’re okay and...well it was nice meeting you.”

Klaus slowly nodded and then quickly shook his head before reaching up to tug on his short hair. “I…” he took a deep breath and then finally figured out what he wanted to say, “Thank you Dave. Thank you for tonight.”

“Of course Klaus…” The air grew awkward, filled with the silence of words they both wanted to say but neither could get out.

“Hey, I’ll see you around, okay?” he said, even though they both knew that wasn’t very likely. “Take care of yourself.”

Klaus nodded again and before he knew it Dave was watching him retreat into the entrance of the building, and he was left alone for the second time that night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi...Hope you enjoyed?? I'm open to critiques or suggestions and would appreciate knowing what you think:)


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Will Dave stop being dumb in front of the pretty man he met two weeks ago? That is going to be a hard no.

“Katz? Some customer in Historical Fiction needs your help.”

Dave turned around at the sound of his coworker, Lucy’s, voice. He looked down at the cart, still half-filled with books he had to get on the shelves. “You can’t help them Luc?...Kind of in the middle of something,” he said.

Lucy shrugged, “I don’t know dude, he specifically asked for you…”

Dave raised an eyebrow in response.

“Super skinny, green eyes, kind of cute...definitely your type. Wait a second...he’s not your boyfriend is he?” she smirked, tugging on a strand of her short lilac-colored hair as she spoke.

He sputtered, “What no-”

Wait...it couldn't be. Dave stood up from the stool he was sitting on and went to the edge of the book case. He peeked around the edge of it, his eyes scanning around the Historical Fiction section. 

Dave honestly loved his job, he loved the place and the people. It was an independent bookstore run by a sweet old Jewish man. He had opened it with his wife but she had passed long before Dave had even left Texas. They made the bookstore feel as homely as possible. The store was filled with low, yellow lights. And it was scattered with thrifted, cushioned chairs and none of them matched. But it was clean, and the store smelled like coffee and fresh books. Maybe it was a little dated; no modern computer or barcode system. When a customer was looking for a particular book you went in the section it should be in and said a prayer that it was there, or else there was no hope of finding it. But it was part of why Dave loved it. It was an escape from everything around him.

And sitting on a large olive green, pin-striped chair right next to the bookcase with the A-F titled historical books was the mysterious man he had met two weeks ago. “Damn…” he breathed out in surprise. He honestly thought he would never see Klaus again.

“So you do know him?” Lucy said. Dave hadn’t even realized that she had snuck up behind him and was peeking around the bookcase too.

Dave shook his head and walked back over to the book cart he was previously working on, “Yeah...Well, no. It’s complicated. Hey do you mind working on these books for me while I go help him? Thanks Luc.”

She looked like she was about to argue but Dave had already walked off in the direction of Klaus before she could get a word out.

He didn’t take his eyes off of Klaus as he walked over. He was sitting sideways, so his skinny legs dangled off one side of the chair and he had a book in front of his face.

“You know Klaus, I’m pretty sure it’s hard to read books when you’re holding them upside down.” he said, leaning against a pillar a few feet from Klaus’s chair.

Klaus’s head whipped up, and he grinned so bright at Dave he could feel his own heart spread over in warmth. “Davey!” he said, sitting up, he cast the book aside on the small table in front of him, “You know you are a hard man to find. You would think that there aren’t that many bookstores around nowadays but this is the fourth one I checked out before I finally found you.”

Dave smiled.

“Not to make it sound like I’m stalking you or anything but I remember you said you worked at a bookstore and I needed to find you.I have something for you.”

Dave couldn’t explain at that moment why he felt so nervous but he his best guess was that it was the sliver of skin peaking out from under the hot pink crop top Klaus was sporting. He averted his gaze, “That so?”

Klaus wiggled his body up even more until he was sitting the right way in the chair, his feet touching the ground in front of him. “You saved me the other night, “ he said wistfully.

“Um…” Dave blushed, “Saved you? I wouldn't say that, maybe just helped you out a little.”

Klaus huffed a laugh and looked at the ground for a moment, “I don’t know Davey, spent a lot of time on the streets. Bad things happen, I would know. The other night...the night you found me, it wasn’t pretty. I haven't been that bad in years but you brought me out of it...I told my brother, Diego, about it. He couldn’t believe I didn’t go feral on you when you touched me but...anyway,” he waved his hand, “Who knows what would have happened to me. Could have been arrested or taken advantage of but you, Dave...you found me.”

Some of the things Klaus was saying, Dave was having trouble understanding. He did know, though, that it broke his heart. But as serious as Klaus appeared his eyes were partially glazed over and his hands were shaking, Dave guessed he wasn’t completely sober at the moment.

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay Klaus. And I’m glad you found me again.”

Klaus’s eyes lit up at that. Did he think Dave would be disgusted or upset at seeing him again?

“Hey, I know you said you had something for me…” He looked back, “I get off in about a half hour, if you want to wait around I’ll treat you to coffee if you’d like?”

Klaus sat back a little in his chair, his eyes deep in thought, “Yeah,” he said softly, “Yeah, I’d like.”

“Sweet! Well...Just hang out here and I’ll swing back to get you after I finish up and…” he walked forward and picked up the book Klaus had placed down, handing it to him the right side up.

He walked backward a couple of steps, before nearly stumbling over a pile of books. In Dave’s defense, they should not have been on the floor. Honestly though, the sight of Klaus, using his book to cover half his face while he laughed at Dave’s embarrassment was so adorable he didn’t mind how red his face turned. He offered a wave and trotted back over to where Lucy was totally not putting away the books from the cart, and had been watching his entire conversation with Klaus from across the store. 

He shook his head when she went to open her mouth, “I’ll tell you about it tomorrow,” he walked over to his stool, “I have to finish this cart up so I can take a certain man to a coffee shop.”

“Dave you fucking player,” Lucy said before going off to actually do her job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...honestly I'm not too happy with this chapter. It's kind of a filler, and I'm putting it out to see how you guys like it? Please let me know what you think. I'm not sure yet if I want Klaus to have his powers or actually have a mental illness that causes his hallucinations so let me know what you guys think??


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for any grammar/spelling errors!! I'm sure I'll be embarrassed checking this over tomorrow lol

There were few things Klaus wanted from life. If anything, each day was a blessing (or a curse depending on what day he was asked). The fact that he was still alive and mostly functioning was a complete shock, he didn’t expect to live past twenty. But at twenty-five he was still up and kicking. So, though he did have wants like any normal human, he didn’t have any long term hopes or desires, because it didn’t really matter.

He lived life day to day. Maybe one day he wanted to snort some lines and a have rough fuck and maybe the next he would want to get baked and force one of his siblings to go with him to the zoo. But a house and mortgage, a job, a serious relationship? Those were out of the question for him.

When he was younger he used to dream of love. He had this nameless, faceless body that would snake strong arms around him from behind and whisper sweet nothings in his ear at night in his dreams. When he was a kid it used to give him comfort, now it just made him want to throw up. The thought of love was just a reminder of loneliness. 

So he pushed that desire so deep that he was okay with being treated the opposite of how he used to dream about. He went through adulthood getting ignored or used. He had Diego and up until a few years ago he had Ben. His two brothers were they only ones who went out of their way for him, showed him some semblance of love. Or at least that was the case until two weeks ago, when he met Dave.

Dave.

He couldn’t stop thinking about Dave.

Klaus looked over at the counter where the man was waiting for their drinks. He was just so...Dave.

He was a well-rounded southern boy who worked in a bookstore. He was the type of guy who stopped to help a crazy druggie having a meltdown and then walked them home on top of that. He was the type of guy whose favorite dessert was strawberry cream pie.

He was the type of guy who made Klaus fall in love with him despite him having outcast the notion of love years ago and barely even knowing the man. 

So maybe he wasn’t actually in love with him, but there was something there. So here he was, sitting in a little coffee while Dave, the gentlemen that he was, got up to order for them.

Even though he spent the last two weeks actively searching for Dave, he had worked himself up into regretting being here by the time Dave plopped down in the seat across from him with two coffees in hand.

So what if he loved him, or was intrigued by him, or whatever? What would it matter? Dave was just a nice guy. He probably supported gay rights and would kindly brush off any of Klaus’s advances with an offer of friendship and a hearty pat on the back. But was Dave nice enough to uphold that friendship? Even if he was, once he got to know Klaus any type of friendship wouldn’t last long.

Klaus picked up his cup where Dave had set it down in front of him.

“I’m kind of surprised you drink black coffee.”

“Oh...” Klaus said slowly, “Why is that?” The skin of his arms started itching, he wanted to leave.

“Well, I don’t know. You’re just so different,” Dave’s eyes scanned him up and down, “Seems a little plain for you.”

“I guess I have to find simplicity wherever I can get it.”

Dave’s eyes crinkled in thought and he nodded, “I like that Klaus.”

Klaus’s heart melted. Fuck, how could he find the crinkles around Dave’s eyes hot. He took a sip of his drink and it eased away some of the heaviness in his chest.

“Thank you Davey.”

Dave shook his head vehemently, “You already thanked me at the bookstore Klaus, really it was nothing.”

Klaus blinked, “I...meant for the coffee.”

“Oh well…” Dave’s face flushed, “Well, you’re welcome then.”

“I liked your bookstore,” Klaus said quickly.

“Oh it’s not mine,” he laughed, “But thank you, it’s kind of my favorite place in the whole world.I actually only work there on monday and friday nights, or on the weekends. During the week I’m a substitute teacher.”

“Do you enjoy that too?” Klaus was more than happy to soak up as much information about Dave as he could as he could. His thoughts about inevitably never seeing Dave again were easy to push down as he got lost in Dave’s eyes like a lovesick schoolgirl.

“Yes! I love it actually, teaching. I’ve been offered some permanent positions before but,” Dave shrugged, “I think I would have to give up working at the bookstore and well you know…”

“It’s your favorite place in the world?” Klaus smiled.

Dave smiled back at him, “Exactly...Do you do anything for work?”

“Um...well...Sometimes I provide freelance services.”

“That’s a really interesting way to describe prostitution Klaus,” said a patronizing voice beside him. Klaus’s jaw tightened but other than that he had gotten really good at ignoring the hooded figure beside him.

“That’s cool?” Dave must have sensed that it was a good idea to not question Klaus about that topic any further, “Well, if you don’t mind, tell me something else about you. All I know is that you have a brother named Diego and you’ve never had strawberry cream pie...And I guess, now, your coffee order,” he nodded at the coffee cup in Klaus’s hand.

“That’s not true, he also knows you’re an unemployed junkie with some kind of ambiguous mental illness.”

Just as his mood was beginning to lift of course he had to show up and ruin it.

Klaus cast a quick glance at the hooded figure with a look of warning in his eyes. The figure just smirked but sat back as if to show that he was done talking.

“Um…” Klaus took a deep breath, trying to get his bearings, “I love to read but I never get to.”

“Why not?” 

“It’s just...hard for me to concentrate on the words. My brother...Ben, he used to read to me.”

When he wasn’t able to sleep because of the night terrors, his voice rough from screaming Ben would sneak into his room with a glass of water and would lay next to him with a book. Or other times when Klaus was in the room with him to not be alone, Ben would start reading aloud whatever book he was working on. It didn’t matter if he was half way through the book, Klaus just loved the flow of words, the comforting voice, the distraction.

A hand dropped onto his and he startled, nearly spilling some of his drink.

“You okay? You kind of zoned out there for a second?”

“Oh yeah,” Klaus said softly,”Just reminiscing I guess…” The presence beside him shifted but he kept his eyes on Dave.

The sides of Dave’s lips tilted up, “Well if your brother doesn’t read to you anymore, I wouldn’t mind taking up the job.”

Dave and Klaus both turned bright red at the exact same moment.

“I mean, well...I love reading and if it’s hard for you to do...I work surrounded by books so it’s not like it would be difficult to do if you stopped by during one of my shifts-”

Klaus looked down, it was too hard to look at Dave’s face while he spoke. Then he noticed that Dave’s hand was still placed on top of his. Was he?...No. No, there was no way. Dave was just too nice. He wanted to make sure Klaus was okay.

Klaus had to close his eyes, that thought was so consuming. Dave cared about him. He knew he was an unaccomplished drug addict and he still wanted Klaus to come by so he could read books to him.

“You both are idiots,” was said at his side at the same time he felt Dave squeeze his hand. He opened his eyes back up. Dave had ceased his rambling and lifted his eyebrows in silent questioning.

He smiled at Dave. “What’s the first book you’re going to read to me then?”

Dave smiled back, “It’s a surprise.”

Klaus gasped, “Leaving me in suspense Davey boy? Rude.”

“Yep. That way I know for sure that I’ll see you again. You seem like the type of guy that doesn’t like being left in suspense.”

“Well you’re not wrong but I don’t think you have to worry about me staying away from you. Eventually you’ll be praying never to see me around again,” he was joking but Dave’s face set into a frown.

“I don’t think I would ever pray for something like that. You’re awesome Klaus. We don’t really know each other that well yet but I’ve enjoyed being with you.”

“Like I said before, idiots. You both obviously want each other. Why are you not flirting the pants off this guy yet? Subtly isn’t usually your style Klaus.”

“Dave I literally told you I saw dead people the first time I saw you. I downed a handful of valium an hour before I went to your bookstore.”

Dave squeezed his hand again, “Klaus,” he said gently, “Everybody has their own demons. If people gave up on any person with a problem everybody would be alone.”

Klaus opened his mouth to tell Dave every reason he should give up on him. He heard voices and saw disfigured and bloody figures if he didn’t have a consistent stream of toxins running through his bloodstream. He talked too much, he stole from his family, he wore skirts and dresses and makeup, he had no respect for his body, The list goes on. But h didn’t say any of those things.

“Dave, will you be my friend?”

Why didn’t Klaus deserve to have a friend? When was the next time he was going to meet another person like Dave? If it all went awry, what was another heartbreak?

“I don’t think you could handle a heartbreak like this Klaus.”

Another comment that got ignored.

It didn’t even matter anyway, he was too enraptured by the gigantic grin that broke out on Dave’s face.”

“I would love that.”

Klaus bounced up in his seat, but he made sure not to move too much so he didn't lose the warm weight of Dave’s hand on his, “Ooh I’m so excited. Diego is going to be so happy for me….Or well, for him, because now I have somebody else to go get smoothies with me, or to hold my bags at the mall. Wait, do you like smoothies?”

“Yes Klaus,” he smiled, “I love smoothies.”

“Perfect!” Klaus went on, describing the other fun things they could do together. Usually at some point during one of his rants, Diego or one of his exes or whoever else he was rambling at would tune him out. Every time he looked at Dave, however, he was hanging on to his every word, giving him his full attention along with a smile.

Eventually Dave’s head dropped and he laughed into his coffee cup.

“What?” Klaus pouted.

“I just love how unapologetically you that you are.” 

“Well I’m glad you like it because most people find it annoying.”

Dave shook his head and squeezed his hand, again, “Well, I love it.”

Fuck, Klaus could just lean over the table and kiss him right now. He was just so nice. So sweet. So Dave. Klaus could tell from how his blue plaid shirt rested against his arms and the broadness of his shoulders that he was in very good shape. His arms would feel so good wrapped around Klaus’s body...

“You’re too nice to me Davey.”

“Well maybe you’re too mean to you.”

Klaus smiled, “Yeah. Maybe.”

“Hey, before you said you had something for me?”

“Huh? Oh yeah.” Klaus set his coffee down and reluctantly slid his hand out of Dave’s. He reached up to pull a silver chain that was hidden beneath his shirt to reveal a set of dog tags. “The other night...I got home and I was clutching these in my hand, like a steel grip. I must have yanked them off of you somehow in the heat of the moment. Anyway…” he reached out to hand them back over to Dave.

Dave let out a sigh of relief and quickly reached forward to grab them, “Shit I- I thought I lost these. Thank you Klaus,” he said.

Klaus nodded, “So…”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Klaus nodded again, “Okay...Only so much trauma you can share in one night, right?” he smirked.

That pulled a chuckle out of Dave, “Right.”

Klaus’s eyes sparkled with barley concealed affection as he watched Dave slip the silver chain over his head.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so...with every chapter I write of this the more I hate my writing lol. I've never really written fanfiction before so please bare with me.
> 
> -So I totally had an easier time writing from Dave's perception than Klaus's, but I wanted to do this chapter. And I know there maybe some confusing aspects of the story or weird shifts in Klaus's mood but that's intentional so once again, please bare with me.
> 
> -I also have a lot of ideas for this story so please let me know if you like it or have any ideas/suggestions!
> 
> -Also take a shot every time Klaus and/or Dave smile at one another. We will all be drunk, these idiots just can't help it.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! So this chapter is about 2x longer than the first three of this fic so enjoy...about 5.8k words of mostly angst...
> 
> TW drug abuse, suicidal ideation, ptsd 
> 
> (And please excuse any mistakes/errors, I will edit this again later)

“I’m sorry Di…” Even to his own ears his voice sounded so little, so weak.

Diego shook his head but Klaus saw his hands fidgeting, the unsure look in his eyes. Diego didn’t know what to do. Diego didn’t know how to help him. Klaus knew he wanted to, but he couldn’t.

“Don’t-Don’t apologize. Please,” Diego said sternly.

Klaus stood up from where he was sitting beside Diego on the couch, leaving a pile of blankets in his wake.

“Where the hell are you going?” Diego was quick to stand up and follow him.

“I need to- I just need to…”

“You’re getting worse Klaus. You’re going to kill yourself.”

Klaus was so tired, his heart was beating too fast. He felt like he couldn’t breath but like he couldn’t stop moving. He wanted to tear off his skin and claw out his eyes. But more than anything he wanted to take two of Diego’s knives from his stupid, dumb collection and shove them in his ears so that he didn’t have to listen to dead brother anymore. 

Diego was at his side with a hand on his shoulder but Klaus was looking forward, right at Ben. Ben’s words of warning were coupled with a condescending smirk. God, he was such a dick. Klaus didn’t remember him being such a dick when he was alive.

“Hey,” the hand on his shoulder jostled him, “I’ve been with you all day and the amount of shit I’ve seen you take was insane. If you think I’m going to let you go out and get more shit think again. You’re going to end up dead.”

Klaus nearly laughed, that’s almost exactly what Ben had just said. Instead he felt his face crumble in defeat. He was too weak, if Diego didn’t want him going out he wouldn’t be able to get past him.

“Please Diego,” he whimpered, his knees giving out. Diego caught him before he could fall to the ground, “Please they won’t stop. They won’t leave me alone.” Klaus pleaded as he was held in his brother’s arms.

“Pathetic,” Ben scoffed.

Diego gulped, “Klaus...No.”

“Diego...please.”

He was led back to the couch, gently guided to sit back down. He knew his brothers were right. The last couple of months had been rough. If he kept up his intake at this rate he would be dead before the year was up. He was just trying to keep up with...them. The ghosts. 

Klaus used to get high and then it would all be okay. They would slowly fade away and leave him be. He would no longer see them or hear them. Sometimes he could even forget that he saw dead people for significant portions of the day. Now though, he was lucky if he got thirty minutes, an hour, before the darkness and the screams crept back in. He was fine destroying his body with drugs when it used to help but now he was destroying it for nothing because he still saw them, he heard them. They barely ever left him alone anymore.

“What are you going to do when the drugs stop working completely Klaus? Do you think you could live like this?”

He was just high enough that most of the voices were quiet for now, but Ben never really went away. He knew he only had a short window of time to get something to take now before they all came back. It would be easy. Klaus’s usual hook-up was too far away for the state he was in. But he could sniff out a drug dealer wherever he went. There was bound to be at least one on this block. He thinks he has enough on him to score something good enough to knock him out for the night. If he didn’t have enough he could find another way to pay. Easy.

“Please Diego,” he tried again. It would be so easy.

“I’m not going to let you do this to yourself man.”

Klaus wanted to drop to the ground, bang his hands and feet against the hardwood floor. He wanted to be the five year old in the supermarket throwing a tantrum when mommy didn’t let them get the cereal they wanted. He wanted to cry and scream and flail until Diego gave in and let him go. He didn’t care how bad of a person it made him, he knew it pained Diego to see him like this. Inevitably he might take pity, be too heartbroken to stand the sight of his brother in pain; just enough that Diego might let him walk out the door to get his fix.

Instead Klaus just sat helplessly, tears rapidly slipping down his face. “I can’t. I can’t do it. I just want to go to sleep Diego,” he started roughly scratching his arms, “And then I’ll be okay and we can both go to sleep and then when we wake up we can make blueberry pancakes. That sounds good right? It sounds wonderful to me I-”

“Shut up Klaus. Just shut up for a second,” Diego said, holding up a hand to silence his brother, “You’re not going to be okay. We’re not going to wake up and have fucking brunch. We’re going to take you to a damn doctor.”

“Diego we’ve talked about this,” he whined.

“Klaus. I’m begging you. I am actually begging you to please, to get help. You’re miserable and you’re killing yourself.”

“Doctors don’t do anything.”

Diego rolled his eyes, “We both know you’ve never even given them a chance.”

Klaus started scratching harder, “That’s because I don’t need a bunch of shrinks thinking they know what's going on in my own noggin.”

“You’re sick Klaus.”

Klaus huffed out a laugh, “I’m not sick.”

“Not sick people don’t hallucinate dead people.

Klaus reached forward and grabbed Diego by his collar, “They’re not hallucinations. They’re real,” their noses brushed as Klaus growled in his face.

“They’re not real Klaus,” Diego said cautiously, “W-We’ve talked about this.”

Klaus shook his head quickly.

“Hit him. If you knock him out you can sneak out before he comes back to.” Ben said.

“I know you think what you see is real but it’s not Klaus. It might feel real to you b-but we can find the right doctor. The r-right medication. Okay? Together.”

Klaus continued shaking his head and tightened his grip on Diego’s collar, “They are. They’re real!” his voice began to raise.

“Hey. Calm down,” Diego’s hands calm up to rest on top of his, “I just want you to be okay.”

Klaus tensed.

“Try to knock him out!,” Ben repeated.

“I’m not fucking sick.”

“Okay, okay Klaus you’re not sick. Just let me go. Please?”

Diego was too good to him. He could have had Klaus laid out on the floor in seconds but he was just placating him. That’s how they got through a bad day, just placate Klaus until he seems okay enough that you're not trying to force him to get medical help.

Klaus kept shaking his head, “I’m not going to the doctor’s.”

Diego said nothing, waiting so patiently for Klaus to be done.

“I’m not going!” he cried out again, shaking Diego.

“Klaus.” he said, “You need to calm down.”

“I can feel them. They’re going to come back soon and I can’t...I can’t-” his chest started to tighten and finally let go of Diego's collar, falling back into the couch with a heavy thud.

He curled up into a ball and Diego watched him for a few seconds before tugging one of the blankets out from under him just to place back on top of him, “I know now probably wasn’t the best time to talk about it but….I’m...I’m s-scared” Diego took a moment to take a deep breath, “I’m scared for you.”

Klaus said nothing. He just kept digging his nails into his skin.

“I don’t understand it but I see how much pain you’re in. You’re not living Klaus, not really. Whether they’re real or not, you might as well be one of the dead people that you see...”

“He makes a good point,” Ben said, “Is there really any point to you being alive anyway?”

“No.”

“No?” Diego said.

“I wasn’t talking to you,” Klaus said.

Diego nods and looks away.

“You’re an adult Klaus. I can’t force you to do anything but I can’t let you do this to yourself...I won’t.” he said.

Ben was right. What was the point? Everybody around him was forced to burden his pain along with him, while he offered nothing in return. Maybe he should just end it all. Put everyone out of their misery.

“What are you going to do then Diego?”

“I don’t know. But I’m not giving up on you.”

“Why not? I already have,” he smirked.

Diego just shook his head.

Klaus didn’t even give that a response and reached out, “Hold me.”

Diego rolled his eyes but he scooted closer to Klaus, and pulled him into his arms.

“Go to sleep Klaus,” he sighed.

Klaus let the exhaustion and the heaviness in his chest lull him to sleep before the voices came back.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Who’s Dave?”

Klaus groaned and sat up from where he was half-asleep watching cartoons on the couch. He rubbed his eyes with the back of his hands, “Huh?”

“Dave? Who is he? He keeps texting you.”

Klaus gasped and sprung up towards Diego, snatching his phone out of his brother’s hands.

After he fell asleep in Diego’s arms he woke up to the ghosts and was able to sneak out and get something. Diego hadn’t woken up before he left but he was when he skipped back into the house Diego was up brewing a pot of coffee.

Neither of them said a word about it.

He had been waiting for Diego to finish making breakfast while he watched the television. Apparently his phone kept buzzing on the counter.

Klaus bounced from foot to foot, reading through the messages Dave had sent him.

“Well?”

Klaus reluctantly pulled his eyes away from the screen. “Dave. Diego, I told you about him. Remember a few weeks ago he walked me home?”

“Wait. That guy you said you’ve been stalking, you found him?”

“Yeah Di, get with the program,” Klaus said, “He’s...my friend now.”

“Your...friend?”, Diego questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“What, I can’t have friends?” Klaus breezed past Diego and walked into the kitchen looking back over the messages again. He and Dave had been texting for the last week since they exchanged numbers at the coffee shop. Or, well, Dave had been doing most of the texting. Klaus had read the messages but had been bad with replies. It had been a rough week. Dave didn’t seem to mind though, still sending him sweet messages or just checking in, sometimes even stupid memes. It made Klaus smile.

“Friends don’t usually put heart emojis next to their friends' names in their contact info.”

Klaus paused and looked up at Diego with a guilty shrug.

“So you finally made a friend...and you have...a crush on him?”

Klaus sighed, “Dave is a good one Diego.”

“So it seems from what you told me...That’s why I’m surprised. Good ones aren't usually your type.”

Ouch. That was a sore subject.

“Anyway, it doesn’t matter, He is just my friend Di. He’s straight.”

“Well then that’s just signing up to get hurt bro.”

Klaus shrugged again as he typed out a response to Dave.

“Come sit with me when you’re done texting your boyfriend. Don’t think I forgot about our talk from last night,” Diego said.

“Diego,” Klaus whined, stomping one of his feet.

Diego shot him a glare.

“Look at me. I’m fine now,” as if to prove it, Klaus did a twirl.

Diego kept glaring.

“No, you’re high. There’s a difference, moron.”

Klaus walked over and sat beside Diego on the couch, “I’m not going to see anybody Di,” Klaus said softly.

“Why the hell not?”

“Hmm...This conversation sounds very familiar...Oh wait, it’s because we just had it last night.”

“You’re being selfish Klaus.”

“Oh screw you Diego.”

Diego did remind him though, of that thought Ben had put in his head. Maybe he should truly take that thought into consideration…

He would think about it later.

“Klaus.”

“The answer’s no Di.”

“So what? We have to go on living like this?”

“Don’t know what you want me to tell you Di,” Klaus patted Diego’s shoulder with a grimace.

Diego didn't respond.

“If you’re going to yell at me I’m just going to leave.”

“Then just leave then Klaus.”

The tension in the room increased ten fold and Klaus stood up, leaving Diego sitting alone.

Before he even made it to the door Diego called out to him,, “Klaus! Kaus wait- I’m sorry. Please don’t leave.”

Klaus looked at him and scrubbed a hand down his face, “There’s nothing else to talk about Diego. I can’t be here right now.”

“Hey, I made you fucking pancakes asshole you can’t leave-”

He shut the door closed behind him.

As he walked down to exit the building Klaus half expected Diego to follow him but he didn't. When he walked around the front of the building however he saw Diego’s figure watching him from the window and he looked up to blow him a kiss. He’s pretty sure he saw Diego’s silhouette flip him off.

“Where to now Klaus?” asked Ben, walking in stride next to him.

“Well I feel absolutely marvelous,” he reached his hand into his pocket to feel around for the little baggy of pills, they were ready for when he needed them, “And it’s like nine in the morning so…” He had also been lucky enough to miss a pretty strong rainfall, and while the sky was dark and small droplets still fell from the sky, he wasn’t getting drenched as he would if he had left fifteen minutes before. 

Klaus’s phone buzzed in his other pocket, he hadn’t even realized he slipped it in there before he left.

A smile broke out on his face. Dave.

“Aw...he's at work. Apparently he’s really tired...My poor baby.”

Ben smirked, “You should go see Dave.”

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Usually Saturday mornings were one of his favorite days. The early bird that he was, Dave, would wake up at 4:45 A.M.. He would turn on the news while he made himself a mug of coffee. He would take his time watering the plants he had around his house before he left at 5:30 A.M. and have a leisurely morning stroll, enjoying the brisk morning air as he walked to the bookstore, getting there by precisely 6:00 A.M.

The old Dave, the pre-war Dave that is, was not a morning person. He loved to sleep in. He wasn’t lazy but he was much more easygoing as he went about his day. After the war, however, adhering to a schedule grounded him. It made him feel centered, calm.

He always went in early on Saturday mornings, he had two hours to be on his own before whoever was on first shift came in. Every week those two hours were reserved for opening up boxes of new shipment and organizing all of it to be stocked. They didn’t usually get that much in and he typically finished before the first hour was even up. But Dave liked being there. After he was done he would find a book, go to his favorite chair and relax in the comfort of the place until it was time to open up the store. 

This Saturday, however, was a complete disaster. He had trouble falling asleep the night before, and only an hour after he had finally managed to, he woke up by his own screaming; the sound of gunfire ringing in his ears.

He was too shaken up to fall back asleep after that so he tried to read, he tried watching a movie, he even tried doing a puzzle. Dave couldn’t attend to anything, his head aching, his body weighed down with emotions he was usually able to push aside.

So he went into the shower, but between the slow steady pounding of his skull and his inability to form a coherent thought he slid down until he was curled up on the shower floor. There was where he fell back asleep. With his alarm clock being and his room he never heard it go off and instead startled awake a half hour before eight.

He cursed and stood up to shut off the water, grimacing at his wrinkled skin and the crick in his neck. He had that sharp, nauseous pain in his stomach that occurs when you don’t sleep right. He felt disgusting and he wanted nothing more than to stay home and not leave his couch for the entire day.

Instead Dave forwent his habitual Saturday morning news and coffee. He couldn’t help not taking the five minutes out to go water his plants so he went around to do that. He pulled on his clothes and brushed his damp hair in a frazzled state. He also texted Lucy that he was running late and to open the store without him if he wasn’t there in time.

He knew he wouldn’t have time to walk which was probably for the better since it was raining. When he went to start his car however the engine stalled, creating a horrendous noise that sent a shiver of fear down Dave’s spine. He wasn’t really sensitive to noises like that, unless they were loud and unending, like fireworks. The nightmare had shaken him up pretty well. He was not and never had been a neurotic person but there was this fluctuating, anxious knot in the pit of his stomach ever since he shot out of bed. He didn’t really know how to deal with it.

He banged his hands against the steering wheel in frustration, he knew his car was a piece of junk but of course it had to give out on him today of all days. What would have been a ten minute drive, tops turned into Dave running down the street, soaking wet.

When he showed up the lights were all on in the store, he looked at his phone and realized that it was well past eight.

He walked into the store and Lucy and Clara, another coworker of his, whipped their heads up as he opened the door. Their eyes widened as they took in his soaked state and he knew they probably noticed the gray sheen set about his face. 

Clara rushed off shouting that she was going to get towels while Lucy walked towards him, “Go home Dave.”

“I’m fine Lucy,” he tried to give her a reassuring look but it came out more stilted than anything. Dave was a notoriously bad liar.

Clara had returned with thick blankets and stood on her tippy-toes to put them around his shoulders. 

“Thank you,” he gave her a genuine smile and tugged the blankets closer to himself.

“Go home,” Lucy repeated, “You’re sick.”

Dave thought he wanted to stay home all day but now that he was here he didn’t want to leave. He knew it was better to be in a place he loved surrounded by people who cared about him than to wallow in sadness alone in his apartment. At least here he had a chance of turning his mood around.

He shook his head, “I’m not sick just...slept wrong. I’d rather be here than home.” Lucy gave him a questioning look, but she must have seen something in his eyes so she let it go. Lucy was very intuitive like that. 

So she sent him off to relax onto one of the chairs next to the heater until he warmed up. Clara even made him a cup of tea, it was no coffee but she mixed in a few spoonfuls of sugar so he couldn't complain.

As he sat there with a warm mug between his hands, he noticed that he was shaking. It reminded him of Klaus. He wondered if the other man was having a better morning than he was.

With that thought in mind he took out his phone to look through their text thread. Klaus hadn’t responded to a text he had sent last night, and he also hadn’t been into the shop as he said he would the last time they saw each other. But Dave never took it personally and decided to shoot off a few more texts to Klaus this morning. Even if Klaus didn’t see them or respond, it made him feel better. 

Fifteen minutes later, Dave was mostly dry and ready to work. Ready to give himself a task, order. He asked Lucy if she had any advil, even though they both knew there was always a bottle of them in her purse. She gave him a pointed look before offering him that small white bottle. Then she sent him off to the back to go take care of the work he didn’t get to do this morning, threatening to send him home if she so much as sensed that something was wrong.

Dave found a relaxing Spotify playlist and put that on to calm his nerves. He almost forgot about his near-disastrous morning, the headache was still there but anxiety was beginning to cede. He had just got into his groove, ripping open boxes and making organized piles of the books when he heard an exuberant voice behind him.

“Boo.”

His heart nearly stopped and he quickly turned around to see a smiling Klaus there holding a Starbucks cup. Klaus looked horrible and cute all at once, but Dave could honestly say that it worked for him. His short curly hair was mussed up and his eyes were rimmed red and surrounded by purple tinged skin. He was wearing black leggings and a knitted pastel sweater so over sized it slid off one of soldiers and went down to his midthigh but...he looked good.

That didn’t help, however, the terrible fright Klaus had given, and he clutched his chest. 

“Klaus,” he breathed out.

“Oops. Did I scare you? Sorry dear.”

“It’s fine. Just woke up on the wrong side of the bed.”

The other’s eyebrows lifted in concern and the most serious expression Dave had ever seen grace Klaus’s face since he had known him appeared. It wasn't a face of pity or apology but of understanding. It felt like Klaus saw him.

“Oh…”

“Well...honestly, it was nightmares.”

Klaus nodded as if he could tell from Dave’s first answer that that’s what it was. Maybe Klaus really could see him. The other man sauntered over to Dave and sat criss cross beside him, offering him the cup he was holding, “I got this for you.”

Dave took the cup and then took a trusting sip. Klaus remembered his exact coffee order. “You...brought me coffee?”

“You did say in your messages that you slept wrong and didn’t feel good,” he shrugged sheepishly.

He patted Klaus’s shoulder with his free hand, “Thanks man. This definitely made my morning.”

Klaus mouth tilted up in joy at the words as his eyes shifted in question towards the shoulder  
Dave’s hand had been on, as if it offended him. Klaus was full of contradictions this morning.

“You didn’t get coffee for yourself?” he asked.

“Don’t need it, I feel wide awake and very refreshed,” his voice practically vibrated as he spoke and he was right. Despite the bags under his eyes Klaus appeared very lively.

“Seriously. You didn't have to do that.”

“I wanted to...” Klaus said softly.

Dave didn’t respond for a moment because it seemed like there was more to whatever Klaus was going to say, but it never got spoken.

“Well, I appreciate it. And I’m glad to see you. How was your night?”

“Oh! It was marvelous. Had a nice talk with my brother last night and another great one this morning. He even made me breakfast!”

He stared at Klaus and the other man stared at him back. He could see Klaus too. He didn’t know how, because along with being a notoriously bad liar he was notoriously gullible, but he knew Klaus was lying.

But he played along for Klaus’s sake, “Oh yeah? What did he make you do?”

“Blueberry pancakes! Blueberry waffles are actually my favorite but Diego still hasn’t mastered the art of making waffles so I had to make do...Anyway, enough about me. Do you...Do you want to talk about it?”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Dave shot Klaus’s question back at him.

Klaus looked taken aback, “W-What are you talking about?”

Dave shrugged and took another sip of his coffee.

There was a minute of silence and Klaus turned his head away so they weren’t looking but finally he spoke, “I wasn’t lying, Di really did make me pancakes I just...didn’t get to eat any before I stormed out of the apartment. The conversations weren’t actually that nice...and I had a nightmare too last night…’

“I don’t have nightmares all the time but I get them enough that they don’t intrude on my everyday life, but also just enough that I’m not able to forget what the war was like,” Dave took a moment to clear his throat, “I don’t know what brought it on but the one I had last night was really bad, made me feel physically sick,” 

Klaus finally looked back over at him.

“How do you feel now?”

“Headache, a little anxious. But definitely better than I did an hour ago,” he said.

Klaus scooted closer and placed the back of his hand against Dave’s forehead, “You feel a little warm.”

“I’m not sick,” Dave said for the second time that morning.

Klaus took both his hands and cupped the sides of Dave's face, “No...No you definitely seem warm. Maybe you’re coming down with something...In my experience, when you’re under the weather your mental state can kind of take a hit too, thus the nightmare.”

Dave was honestly too caught up in being held between the thin, gentle hands of the man before him to come up with a better response than, “Oh yeah...?”

Klaus shrugged, "I get sick...a lot.”

“You know Lucy was trying to send me home earlier, did she put you up to this?”

Klaus giggled, “No, she just said you seemed off today and I should come into the back and cheer you up.”

Dave’s eyes scanned up and down Klaus’s face until they landed on his lips, “I would say you're doing a good job.”

Klaus’s next little laugh sounded airy and unsure.

Dave changed the topic, both to distract the other from his possible sickness and to relieve some of the tension he has created by his sad attempt at flirting.

“What was yours about...your nightmare?” Dave asked.

Klaus immediately pulled away and Dave was suddenly looking at a sad, small creature with tortured green eyes.

“I don’t- I don’t uh...I-”

It truly scared Dave how easily Klaus immediately went into a neurotic state. It was like a light switch.

“Klaus. Klaus, you don’t have to tell me anything. I wasn’t thinking. It’s okay, just breathe.”

Klaus nodded and took a deep breath. “I just...don’t want to talk about it. Can we talk about something else?”

“Of course. Of course you only have to talk about it whatever you’re comfortable talking about.”

“Okay well how about this?” he offered, “Diego’s mad at me. Like really mad at me, and I don’t know what to do…” he looked devastated as he spoke about it but Dave felt bad for appreciating the cute pout gracing Klaus’s face.

Dave hummed in acknowledgement, allowing Klaus to give him as much or as little information as he was comfortable with.

“My family is full of assholes that think they know everything about me but never once have they listened to a thing I say...They complain about who I am when I’m not on drugs and then when I’m on drugs they complain about the drugs. I just can’t make these people happy,” he scoffed.

“In my experience...as much as the people who love you try to control your life, it's usually out of love. I’m sure Diego loves you and just wants you to be safe and happy. You both just have to...meet somewhere in the middle.

Klaus let out a boisterous laugh, “You obviously haven't met Diego.”

Dave laughed along with him, “Siblings, right?”

Klaus hummed, “How many do you have Davey boy?”

“Four, two sisters and two brothers. Both older, you?”

“Two sisters and four brothers.”

Damn. Dave whistled, “Seven kids running around in one house, must have driven your parents nuts.”

“Something like that…” Klaus slid his hands into his pockets as he spoke.

“Older, younger?”

He suddenly felt starved for information about the other man. He wanted to know about his siblings, he wanted to know what his favorite color was, if he sang in the shower. Stupid, sily things that didn’t even matter. Klaus was damaged and mysterious but...beautiful. And there was something there, some unspoken connection that brought them together and kept them there.

Dave was a hopeless romantic at heart. He wanted somebody to love him, sure. More than that he wanted somebody to love. And he thinks he could love Klaus.

“Hmm...It’s complicated,” Klaus looked over with a melancholy smirk.

“Family usually is, yeah?”

Klaus scooted closer to him and put his hand back onto Dave’s forehead, “I’m still worried you’re getting sick…” he whispered, as if he was talking to himself.

Dave could hear the obvious response in his head, something like ‘Will you take care of me?’ or ‘Well I have you to nurse me back to health, right?’. But it was so not like him and he felt like that would put them in a different place. A cheesy line with an obvious ending would propel them into something then couldn’t go back on. He couldn't rush this, whatever this was. It had only been the third time they’d seen each other. And it didn’t take a genius to figure out that Klaus was complicated…

“I’ll be fine,” he reached his hands up and hooked his fingers into the soft material of Klaus’s sweater, pulling Klaus’s hands away from Dave’s face, “Don’t worry about me.”

A weird expression came onto Klaus's face then. Something akin to confusion but it was gone before Dave could try to place it.

“Do you like honey?” Klaus said suddenly.

“Um...honey? Like...from bees?”

“Yes Dave, like from bees.”

“Yeah, I like anything sweet.”

“That’s probably why you like me, eh Dave?” Klaus fluttered his lashes.

“Sure...So honey?”

“Well, I heard that honey is good for when you're sick. It soothes your throat if you have a sore throat or a cough or whatever?”

Dave blinked at him, “Oh. And?”

“Oh nothing, just wanted to give you some tips for when the sickness hits you full force.”

Dave tilted his head toward Klaus fondly, "I told you I’m fine.”

“Yeah, yeah. But if I’m right what do I get?”

“Seriously? You want to bet on whether or not I get sick?” he chuckled. Klaus nodded. “Okay well what do you want?”

“I want…” Klaus thought it over but then his face glimmered with a revelation, “Ooh, I know! I want you to take a dance class with me!” he said, clapping his hands in excitement.

“A dance class, Klaus? What kind?”

“I don’t know. Salsa, tap, jazz, whatever!” Klaus said, “How am I supposed to impress you if I can’t find an excuse to show off my moves.”

“You’re really something else...Okay, fine. I promise that if I do get sick later this week that I will attend dance classes with you.” he held out a hand to shake on it but he was met with Klaus’s pinky.

“I only abide by pinky swears,” he said in explanation.

Dave quickly switched over to stick out his pinky and they hooked them together in silent promise.

“You really are a good one Davey. Takes a very secure, and dashing might I add, straight boy to commit to dancing about in public with another guy.”

Huh? Wait, did Klaus really think he was straight?

“Um Klaus...You do know that I’m-”

He didn’t get to finish his thought because Klaus’s head turned to the side and he snarled, “I thought you promised to leave me alone while I was with Dave.”

Then he turned back to Dave with a scoff, “Sorry, just some ghosty trying to get on my nerves.” He turned again to glare at the empty air beside him and Dave was once again reminded of another aspect about Klaus.

Klaus turned back again and noticed the widened and confused state of Dave’s eyes, his face turned red and worried.. He probably thought that Dave would be disturbed and disgusted by evidence of Klaus’s mental illness.

Maybe Dave should have just ignored it and moved on but instead he put an arm around Klaus’s small frame. Klaus immediately dropped his head onto Dave’s shoulder without even thinking and it made Dave’s heart soar.

“I won't ever judge you for anything, okay Klaus?”

“Yeah?” came Klaus’s crackled voice.

“Yeah. That’s what friends are supposed to do.”

Klaus propped his chin up on Dave’s shoulder so he could look into his eyes, “Pinky swear?”

A smile bled on Dave's face and he held up his pinky with a reassuring quickness, “Pinky swear.”

Once again they enacted the pinky promise. Together with hooked pinkies they sat there, Klaus’s head resting on his shoulder and his arm resting around Klaus’s for an amount of time even Dave was too embarrassed to admit.

There was so much hanging in the air; Klaus’s hallucinations and mental illness, the pounding in Dave’s skull and the unspoken discussion about his sexuality, the nightmares that plagued both of them the night before...

Eventually Klaus pulled away with some inane comment but for the rest of the day Klaus stayed. He helped Dave work, pulling books out of boxes. They laughed and joked, and Dave said nothing when Klaus slipped small white pills out of his pocket and into his mouth. But they were together. 

On that Saturday, despite whatever happened the night before and earlier that morning, they were together and they were happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know this was sad but Dave is a plant dad...isn't that all you can really ask for in these trying times?
> 
> Also thank you for everybody that leaves kudos/comments!! I really love hearing what you guys have to say:)


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3 month jump in the story! Short, filler chapter.
> 
> Dave really wants to kiss Klaus and Klaus really wants spaghetti.

Each month rolled on by quicker than the previous one, and before Dave knew it leaves went from changing colors to falling down; crisp morning air turned unbearably frigid. And then like a blink of an eye, it was the first day of December. About three months since Klaus had first appeared into his life.

It had been a very interesting three months to say the least. 

Dave and Klaus had become inseparable. Their unspoken and unexplainable connection had turned a timid friendship into a strong bond within such a short period of time that it surprised both them and everyone around them. 

Klaus stopped into the bookstore more days than not, whether or not Dave was able to devote any time to him. Sometimes all he could manage was a quick wave and a warm smile while he helped a flurry of customers. Klaus didn’t mind. He would either sit and read or he would talk to Dave’s other coworkers. Lucy and Clara adored him. Sometimes he would walk over to the three of them and Klaus would be painting either of their nails while they were on break or they would all be making plans to go shopping for the weekend.

Even his coworkers at the high school he taught at were curious about Klaus. He didn’t realize how much he talked about the other man until one of the coworkers he had come out to had asked if Klaus was his boyfriend. That resulted in his face turning red and a flustered change of conversation.

He hadn’t met Diego yet but Klaus said he was always asking to meet him, and they had spoken once on the phone. Honestly, from that one phone call Dave wasn't sure if he wanted to meet Klaus’s brother. Before he could even get a hello Diego was threatening his life. He knew Klaus had a big family and as much as he knew about them he hadn't met any of them. He hadn’t met anybody from Klaus’s life actually. 

Klaus had met and hung out with all of his friends. He hadn't met his actual family but he had been with him once when his sister and Sarah, his five year old niece, had facetimed him. Despite the onslaught of questions he received from his sister about who exactly Klaus was the next day, it was worth it to see how adorable Klaus was while interacting with little Sarah. 

If anything, the only person from Klaus’s life that he had any sort of interaction with was Ben.

It had taken a while for Klaus to tell him about Ben but after spending so much time together it was inevitable. He didn’t know much about what Klaus was going through but what he had learned was that apparently seeing dead people and avid drug use were a given with him. The drug use worried him more than it bothered him, but he didn’t try to change Klaus. And more importantly he accepted him.

So when Klaus told him he could see and speak to his dead brother Ben he didn’t accuse Klaus of lying or tell him that Ben was not real. When Klaus turned to say something to an empty space it was just a normal part of their day. Sometimes Klaus would tell him the comments Ben made.

“What did he say to you now Klaus?”

Klaus huffed and pouted, snuggling closer to Dave. Once Klaus understood that Dave was not opposed to physical affection he had a very touchy Klaus on his hands. More often than not Klaus was leaned up against Dave or had his arms wrapped around him like a teddy bear.

Like now, they were sitting on Dave’s couch and Klaus was practically in fetal position with his arms circled around Dave’s torso. Dave had a Sunday off for the first time in a while and he was spending it watching some cheesy rom-com that Kaus had wanted to see.

“Doesn’t matter...he’s just being an asshole,” Klaus finally replied, all while giving a pointed look to the corner of the room.

Sometimes Klaus wouldn’t tell him what Ben had said. Then again, there were a lot of things that were left unsaid between them.

Like the fact that they were head over heels for each other.

So they would cuddle, hug, sparingly hold hands but they weren’t dating. Not even a little bit.

“Tell Ben to stop interrupting the movie for you then, it’s kind of distracting.”

Klaus grinned up at him, “He heard you silly...He’ll probably stop now, he always listens to you.”

Dave looked down at Klaus and the only thing he could think about was leaning down and kissing the other man.

“Well I don’t like the way that Ben treats you.”

“You’re telling me! But it’s okay, I have you now. My big, strong, knight in shining armour.”

Dave smiled and looked back at the screen. Neither of them were shameful with their flirting. And Dave actually wasn’t dense enough to not see the way that Klaus looked at him. Even if he was, anyone else that spent any time with them made sure to point it out to him.

So along with everyone else in his life he often found himself questioning why him and Klaus weren’t dating. He could have easily bent down right then and pressed his lips against Klaus’s. Dave’s sure he could do it any time he wanted to, and Klaus would be more than okay with it. For whatever reason though, he didn’t feel ready. 

Though the achy longing had become a familiar feeling in his gut every time he looked at or thought about Klaus, the bad feeling he got when he thought about moving their relationship in a romantic direction outweighed that.

They were happy how they were now anyway. They enjoyed each other’s company, they had fun. The dark place Klas was in around the time they first met seemed to be getting better. He was still using drugs but a lot less, at least from what Dave could see. Klaus could be hiding things from him but Dave noticed how the bags around Klaus’s eyes weren’t as big and dark, he wasn’t as jumpy. He just seemed calmer, peaceful almost.

Klaus sat up and looked around for the remote. Dave focused on his dark, full eyelashes as he shifted closer in his movements, “This movie is boring,” he said, pausing the screen, “I want food.”

Dave propped himself up then as well, “You want to go out somewhere or stay in.”

Klaus hummed, considering, “Stay in...Can we make spaghetti?”

“Yeah, I probably have a box or two somewhere in the kitchen.”

“Sauce?”

“I don’t think I have sauce…”

Klaus groaned, “Dave, I want marinara. It’s going to take away from the whole experience if there’s no sauce!”

Dave snorted, “Okay, okay. We can order in from somewhere then. There’s a good Italian place down the street we can get spaghetti from.”

“Mhmm,.I guess that will do....You’re answering the door though...” Klaus then suddenly jumped up from the couch, “I have to pee, put on another movie Davey!”

Dave watched the eccentric man scurry away down the hall, only feeling slightly guilty about the way he checked Klaus out as he left. Dave then settled on a movie before the other got back from the bathroom. He waited to press play until he had ordered their food and Klaus was cuddled back up next to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I haven't uploaded in a few-ish weeks, sorry! Work/school/life/ lack of motivation really got me.
> 
> So the last chapter was super long and this one was super short...I'm hoping to make chapter size more consistent so the story flows better...I do have somewhat of a plan/outline for this story but it's not all written.
> 
> Also, thank you everyone who comments. I'm going to start responding to any of the comments I do get because I really do appreciate it and it makes me v happy...Again, I'm also open to any questions/ideas. Thank you for reading ya'll:)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Diego and Klaus talk about Dave.

“...What the hell are you doing?”

Klaus’s head popped up from where he was violently mixing whatever mixture was in a green bowl on the counter, “What does it look like? I’m baking, brother dear.”

Diego squinted, both in exhaustion and confusion. “It's two in the fucking morning, it couldn’t wait?”

He was met with a patronizing look from Klaus, “Of course not! This is a special recipe I found online. With preparation alone I’ll be lucky to get this done in time!”

Diego sighed. It wasn’t abnormal to find his brother manically completing some task at odd, unholy hours. “Have you gotten any sleep?”

The other shrugged, still working on mixing, “What are you making anyway? And why do you need to have it done by a certain time?” Diego resigned himself to the fact that he wasn’t going to make it back to sleep. Klaus’s inability to do anything quietly had woken him in the first place but he couldn’t rest easily knowing Klaus was up in this state.

“Oh, it’s like two different kinds of cookies but in one! So I had to make some two kinds of dough. And then we only had chocolate chips so I had to go out and buy white chocolate chips so that like...totally messed up my whole groove. But it’s okay, I think I’ll have them done in time to surprised Dave at work!”

Diego sighed again. Of course this was because of Dave. Klaus’s entire world have revolved around fucking Dave for the last few months. There were only so many times he could hear about the man’s eyes or sharp jawline or deep voice before wanting to jump out the window at the mere mention of Dave’s name.

“I don’t think it’ll be that much of a surprise, you’re up that guy’s ass almost everyday.”

Klaus leered, “Actually Diego, I would love for Dave to be up my-”

“Don’t you dare fucking finish that sentence if you don’t want me to take that bowl out of your hands and smash it up against the wall.”

Klaus let out a small laugh, “So dramatic, take deep breath big brother”

“You have a lot of nerve calling me dramatic” Diego said, “Anyway...When am I finally going to meet this guy?”

“Um let me think,” Klaus set down the bowl and tapped his finger to his chin in false thought, “Never. Kind of want to keep this guy around, you have a little knack for driving all my lovely gentleman callers away.”  
Klaus wasn’t wrong. Usually whatever guys Klaus was with were driven away, threatened, or nearly murdered by Diego. In Diego’s defense, to say that Klaus had bad taste in men was a devastating understatement.

“And besides,” Klaus continued, “Davey’s still kind of freaked from that one time you guys spoke on the phone. It took me like a week to convince him that you were just really overprotective and not a serial killer.

Yeah, well, Dave hadn’t seen Klaus crumpled on his doorstep with his face streaked in tears and blood and his body covered in dark, ugly bruises.

Honestly, Klaus had seemed better lately. Usually his junkie brother would live on his couch for a couple of weeks before disappearing for a couple of months and repeating the cycle. But Klaus had been consistently living at Diego’s apartment for months. He was still taking drugs, he was still hallucinating but he seemed...happier? Diego was just afraid. Klaus was the master of hiding or misconstruing the reality of a situation. How many times did Klaus tell him his current boyfriend was practically sent from Heaven above, just to be another emotionally and physically abusive prick. 

“Are you even dating this guy?”

Klaus's face crumpled up, “No...Me and Davey are just friends.”

“Mhmm, right. Anyway, you know I don’t trust you. I promise to play nice as long as he gives me a reason to. I want to meet him.”

Klaus bit his lip and his eye wandered to the wall behind Diego’s face, “Please?” Diego added.

His little brother’s eyes settled back on his, the murky veil of fear in his eyes had disappeared. “Diego...Do want some of these cookies. I think I have enough to make some for you if you want?”

Diego rolled his eyes, “Klaus,” he said sternly.

“Okay, Okay. I’ll think about it...and I’ll talk to him… Don’t know why you even care,” he muttered as he walked away to grab another needed ingredient from the fridge.

“Dumb thing to say Klaus. You're my brother.”

Klaus turned to him with both his eyebrows raised.

“Whether or not this Dave guy is as good as you say...You’ve been doing better Klaus. If that’s because of him, well, pitting all of your happiness on one person never ends well.”

“That-that's not what I’m doing Di,” Klaus said softly.

“Then what is it that you’re doing exactly?”

Klaus walked back over to the counter, pushing aside the bowl of cookie dough to rest his elbows on the surface, in front of Diego. “Dave really is good. I’m not just saying that, he’s...I’ve never met anyway as good or genuine as that man.”

Klaus paused to let out a small self deprecating laugh, “I’ve always been selfish. As much as I love you and the rest of our family I never thought of you guys when I’ve done all of the things that I’ve done...I just did what I wanted to do, I was the person that I was but Dave,” he hummed, “Dave makes me want to be better. He makes me think now before every choice I make…”

Diego leaned forward and wiped a stray tear that had fallen down Klaus’s face. He smiled at Klaus’s surprise at his own tears. The other had always been emotional, always scarily easy to provoke him into crying.

“Keep going Klaus.”

“He just makes me feel important. He cares about me,” Klaus took a deep breath, “It’s not that nobody has made me feel like that before it’s that I’ve just never felt like that before at all...I love him...I don’t care if he’s straight or doesn't want me back...He’s my friend,” a small smile slipped onto his face, “Just having him in my life makes me want to be better…”

Diego scoffed as Klaus pulled a prescription bottle out of pocket, opening it and downing a few white pills.

“Better, huh?”

“Better,” Klaus clarified, “Not perfect…Never perfect.”

“Klaus,” Diego said.

“Oh please don’t start, I know what that tone means. Just, please don’t”

“I’m happy for you, I really am. I’m glad you found somebody that makes you feel special. Friend, boyfriend, whatever but, he’s not going to fix you. “

“I don’t think he is, that’s not why I love him,” Klaus whined.

“What I mean is that no matter how happy he makes you, or better he makes you, love can’t cure all the shit you got going on- Hey! What the fuck Klaus.”

Diego stood up, wiping a cracked egg off the right side of his face. How the hell had he not seen that coming?

“That hurt you bastard.”

Klaus smirked, “I’m not a baby, Diego-”

“Might as well be," Diego muttered.

“Do I have to hurl another egg full force at your head or can you shut up?”

Klaus continued once Diego had responded with a raised middle finger, “I’m not a baby...Maybe I’m not the most mature but I've been around, you know? Been through some shit. Maybe I can’t take care of myself, but I am not looking for Dave, or you, to do that for me. I’m doing fine for the first time in a while...let me enjoy it before shit inevitably hits the fan. Eh, brother dear?”

Diego stared at Klaus, “I just wish that you would stop lying to yourself and live in reality. I wish you would admit that you were sick…” 

He quickly was losing Klaus so he decided to end the conversation on a better note, “If I go back to sleep now, am I going to wake up to some bomb-ass cookies or what?”

Klaus offered a small smile and a silent nod.

Diego leaned over the counter and pressed a small kiss to his little brother’s forehead. “Try to get some sleep before you head out tomorrow, kay?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So maybe this is another filler chapter but to me this is an important chapter to get some insight on how Klaus is doing, and how Klaus feels about Dave so I hope you enjoyed?
> 
> I'm going to post the next chapter super soon! Like maybe even tonight or tomorrow but we'll see..
> 
> Anyway PLEASE, tell me what you think!! Comments boost my serotonin levels so...


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Diego finally meet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The people want to know...does Klaus have powers? I am finally answering that question lol. Enjoy!
> 
> (sorry in advance for any spelling/grammar errors!!)

“...Are you sure he’s not going to try to hurt me?”

“Who, Diego? No, once he sees how much of an apple pie country boy you are he’ll lay off.”

Klaus turned to Dave, who was sitting on the same side of the booth as him, and reached forward to brush through Dave’s hair. 

“You look great, you'll be fine,” Klaus reiterated.

“I honestly don’t think your brother cares how nice my hair is brushed. I have four older siblings, I know how they can be,” despite his words, Dave still used his hand to smooth down the hair Klaus had spiked up with his fingers.

“Trust me, once you get past his attack dog exterior he’s just a big mush.”

“Is the big mush you’re talking about the guy walking through the door wearing a fucking leather harness?”

Klaus looked over at the entrance of the small diner and giggled, “The one and only- Di, we’re over here” he said, waving his arms to signal his brother over.

A stern-faced Latino man, in head to toe black, walked over and sat in the booth across from the two of them. There was a small moment of awkward silence that Klaus was having too much fun witnessing to break.

“Hey man, nice to meet you!” Dave finally said with a friendly expression on his face, reaching his hand across the table. Diego stared at his hand with suspicion until Dave unextended the arm, realizing the motion would not be reciprocated.

Dave cleared his throat, trying again, “Klaus has told me a lot about you. You’re a cop, right?”

“Cut the bullshit, Dave.”

Klaus rolled his eyes and looked over at his poor sweet Dave, who had since adopted a look of shock at the unexpected reply.

“Oh Diego, don’t start,” Klaus said.

Diego didn’t even spare Klaus a glance and kept his attention directed on Dave, “What exactly do you want from my little brother?”

“Diego, seriously. You said this morning you were going to try and not be a total prick. Davey, you don’t have to answer that.”

Dave gave him a patient smile, “It’s okay!” He then turned back to Diego to answer his question, “I don’t want anything from Klaus.”

“So you, what, just hang out with him almost every single day for nothing?”

Dave shrugged, “I mean, everybody always wants something. If I had to put a name to what I want from your brother, it would just simply be friendship.”

Dave suddenly felt Klaus reach over to grab his hand under the table and it refueled his confidence to know that Klaus was pleased with his answer.

The stand-offish man across from them, however, did not give any indication on what he thought of Dave’s response. Instead he leaned forward onto his elbows and Dave could tell the real interrogation was about to begin.

“You do any drugs?”

“Not since college.”

“Alcohol?”

“I drink socially, or once in a blue moon I’ll have a drink after a long day.”

“Diego, the man just used the expression ‘once in a blue moon’. He’s obviously harmless.” Klaus said, cutting in.

“Hey,” Dave exclaimed, knocking his shoulder against Klaus’s, “What’s wrong with that expression?”

“Nothing...if you’re a eighty year old man.”

Diego ignored them and continued his onslaught of questions, “You employed?”

“Diego, you literally know all of this information,” Klaus said.

“You know I don’t trust you Klaus,” Diego said casually. Dave managed to catch the hurt on Klaus’s face before it disappeared and his eccentric friend crossed his arms and slumped down in the booth, obviously over being a part of the conversation.

“Yes, I’m a substitute teacher at the local high school. And in my free time I work at a bookstore.”

“You got your own place?”

“Oh, yes. I have an apartment in Whitestone.”

“...That’s a nice area,” Diego said suspiciously.

“Well , when I first moved here I had a couple of roommates to split the rent with. By the time they both moved out I was able to handle the bill on my own.”

“Where are you from?”

“He’s from good ol’ Dallas Texas!” Klaus sat back up, his silent treatment having passed, “Are you done yet? I think the demonic detective aurora you giving off right now is scaring anybody from coming to take our order and I’m feeling quite parched right now so…”

Diego sat back with crossed arms, “Fine….For now at least.”

Almost as soon as as Diego backed off, a sweet old woman came over with a notepad, “Hello fellas, does everyone know what they want or can I start you off with a drink?”

Klaus bounced up with a smile, “Oh, I’ll have a pink lemonade please. Moody over there will have a black coffee, and Davey? What would you like dear?”

“Oh, I’ll just have a glass of water, if you wouldn’t mind. Thank you ma’am.”

“You got it! I’ll be back with your drinks in just a moment.” the waitress said before walking away from their table.

“Hey Dave?” Diego said, his voice sounding intrigued, “When did you serve?” he nodded at the dog tags hanging from his neck.

Dave brought his hand up to clutch them, “From 2008 to 2011.”

Diego squinted in thought, “I joined up when I was eighteen...I’m thirty-one now,” Dave clarified.

Diego nodded and brought his attention to Klaus, “Of all the things you tell me about the guy, you didn’t mention that he was a veteran...or much older than you?”

Klaus frowned, “He doesn’t like to talk about it...And it’s not my business to tell you about that. Also he’s only six years older you weirdo...”

That conversation ended when the old woman came back with their drinks. She placed them down and took their dinner orders before making another exit.

Klaus took a long slurp of his pink lemonade through his straw, “Do you have enough info now Di? Can we just have a nice, normal dinner now?”

That brought a grin to Diego’s face, “Do you think the Hargreeves are capable of having a nice, normal dinner?”

“Hmm, I think we’ll be able to with Dave here. Dave just has that kind of effect on people,” Klaus scooted closer to Dave and laid his head against the other’s shoulder.

Dave’s face turned red and he looked at Diego with a shrug.

“Well you definitely have some sort of effect, Davey, my little bro is obsessed with you.

Dave's face turned redder and Klaus groaned, “Hey, don’t embarrass me, that’s not why we’re here. You now what, go back to harassing Dave please.”

“No seriously Dave, all I hear nowadays is ‘Dave this’ or ‘Dave that’. I mean he woke me up at two in the morning last week making you cookies. He spends like three times longer now picking out what he’s going to wear whenever he’s going to see you.”

“Hey!” Klaus’s face was now the one that turned red.

“He practically dances around the apartment singing your name.”

“Diego,” Klaus whined.

“He’s just messing with you Klaus,” Dave laughed, “That’s what big brothers are supposed to do. And I appreciate both the cookies and your style.”

Klaus perked back up at Dave’s words.

“You got any younger siblings?” Diego, who seemed to be gradually becoming more comfortable with Dave, asked.

“I’m actually the youngest. Two older brothers and two older sisters. But trust me, I know how annoying they can be.”

“I think it’s a requirement to annoy our younger siblings. Klaus is the baby of the family too.”

“There’s seven of you, right?” Dave said.

“Yes, there’s seven of us and Davey please stop doing that,” Klaus said, pointing to where Dave’s hands were tearing up his white straw wrapper into little bits on the table, “Ben used to do that and it drove me insane.”

“Sorry,” Dave said with an apologetic smile, “I guess me and Ben had the same nervous habit.”

Klaus’s mouth opened to respond but Diego beat him to it, “Klaus has talked to you about Ben?” he asked, seeming surprised.

“Oh...Uh, yeah. I’m sorry for your loss,” Dave said.

“Thanks…” Diego’s voice had taken on a tone of consideration as his eyes flitted between Klaus and Dave.

Klaus huffed and Dave looked over to see him twiddling with his thumbs, “Well,” he popped up, “I have to run to the little girl’s room. Can I trust you two to keep it in your pants,” Klaus whipped his head around to glare specifically at his brother, “...whilst I’m gone?

“We’ll be fine Klaus, go ahead.” Dave said, patting Klaus’s arm.

Once Klaus had shuffled past Dave and out of the booth the two men were left staring at each other, with no Klaus to break the tension.

“It was about that time,” Diego said.

Dave sighed, “Right.”

“Listen Dave, I’m going to be upfront with you. I’m not usually trusting of anybody right off the bat but I can tell you’re a good guy. I don’t know you, you don’t know me but I think we can agree that we both care about Klaus, am I right?”

Dave nodded.

“So I think we both know Klaus is pretty much in love with you...am I wrong if I say you feel the same way?”

“No! Uh-no” Dave coughed, “...I have feelings for Klaus”

“Okay. So, I’m just curious, why haven’t you acted on them. I’m pretty sure my idiot brother even thinks you’re straight.”

“I…I know we feel the same way about each other but I’d rather take things slow with Klaus,” Dave said, “You’re right when you say I care about Klaus but Diego, I really really care about him. I’d love to be in a relationship with your brother but I don’t think now would be a good time to act on anything...Klaus has a lot going on.”

“How much do you know?”

Dave’s fingers played along the rim of his glass as he spoke, “Not much. I don’t like to push him to talk and he doesn’t like to talk about himself.”

“He told you about Ben though. He barely even talks to me about Ben.”

“I know they were close.”

“Understatement. Ben is probably the reason Klaus is still alive right now”

“Do you…” Dave glanced over Diego’s shoulder to make sure Klaus wasn’t returning, “Do you know that-”

“That Klaus sees Ben?” Diego interrupted.

Dave nodded.

“Yes, I know”

“I feel bad doing this because I don’t want to invade Klaus's privacy but he...he tells me that he sees dead people. Why-”

Diego interrupted again, “Of course Klaus didn’t tell you about that,” he muttered.

Dave waited for Diego to continue.

“Klaus has schizophrenia.”

“Oh…” it was one of the responses he was expecting but it still made Dave’s heart drop in his chest.

Diego took a deep breath and let it out before he continued, “He doesn’t think he’s sick...and he’s never accepted his diagnosis. I’m not going to get into everything, because it’s not my place but this is important for you to know, for both of your sakes. We all went through a lot of shit growing up in that house, but Klaus had it the worst. He really thinks he sees dead people and because he can’t admit that he’s schizophrenic he refuses to get help. He’s...Klaus has always been a tortured kid, I-I…” Diego looked away in frustration, “I can’t even imagine how he gets through the day with the amount of shit and pain he carries...But he won’t let me help him.”

“You’re doing the best you can Diego,” Dave said with a reassuring nod, “Klaus loves you and I know the fact that you stay by his side means a lot to him...You don’t have to do this alone. I’ll do anything I can to help him.”

“He’s not your responsibility Dave”

“And he’s technically not yours either but here we both are.”

“Fair,” Diego said, “I wouldn’t blame you if you walked away right now but I am begging you, Dave. If you’re planning to hurt Klaus or leave him, do it now. It’ll be easier to pick up the pieces rather than further down the line.”

Dave shook his head sternly, “I already told you I’m here. I have absolutely no plans on doing either of those things, may God strike me dead.”

“So I can count on you then?”

“You can count on me,” Dave promised.

“It makes me sick to think of everything he’s been through…” Diego’s lip curled in disgust.

“Klaus is strong, he’ll be okay,” Dave said with confidence.

“You haven’t seen the worst of it, you don’t know the worst of it. I’m going against everything I am and I’m trusting you with my little brother Dave. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I do.”

“Schizophrenia is-”

Diego was interrupted when Klaus returned, standing before the booth with a devastated look.

“Klaus I-” Diego started.

“Fuck you Diego,” Klaus rasped out, “How could you?”

“Klaus it’s okay,” Dave said, standing up, placing his hands on Klaus’s shoulders to try and calm Klaus, who was quickly working himself up, down.

Klaus immediately shrugged away from Dave’s touch, “No. No it’s not fucking okay! He’s telling you lies about me and now you think...You can’t trust him I-” Klaus banged his hands against his head in frustration. 

Diego sat there silently, a guilty expression on his face.

“Klaus-” Dave tried again.

“He’s lying!” Klaus screamed, looking towards Dave with tears rising to glaze over his blown out pupils. At this point, everyone in the diner had either turned to watch the commotion or was actively looking away, pretending like it wasn’t happening, “He’s fucking lying! You can’t trust him, I'm not shizo-I’m not Dave, okay?”

Dave stared at Klaus slack-jawed.

“Okay?!”

“Okay, Klaus. Okay. Yes, I trust you. Of course I trust you,” Dave said quickly.

Klaus looked into his eyes with a hurt expression, shaking his head, “You believe him.”

“Klaus,” Dave said with a gentle voice, “Just take a deep breath, let’s all just calm down and then we can talk about this.”

Dave reached out again towards Klaus but as soon as his hands met the other’s skin, Klaus pushed Dave away so hard he landed on his ass. Klaus then ran out the door so abruptly that it left Dave and Diego staring at one other dumbly for a few seconds, before they began to react.

They both jumped up, Dave having the sense to leave money on the table first, and bolted out the door.

It was already dark but they still tried to look around for any indication of where Klaus had gone, but he was nowhere to be seen.

“Fuck,” Dave and Diego said simultaneously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so Klaus doesn't have powers...and just to clarify, none of the Hargreeves do. This is officially a No Powers! AU.
> 
> I appreciate all of your comments so much, I love hearing from you guys<3 Let me know what you think!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Klaus is a sad boy.
> 
> (Please excuse any errors!)

“Klaus please, please call me back. I’m not mad at you, or upset with you, or whatever else you’re thinking. I just want to talk...I just want to make sure you’re okay…” Dave sighed as unlocked the door to his apartment, “Please call me back, let’s talk about this. Together.”

Dave ended the call and threw his phone on the counter with a defeated huff. He and Diego had spent all night looking for Klaus with no success. Well, he had spent all night, just getting home at a little past seven in the morning, while Diego had given up much earlier than that.

He understood why Diego eventually gave up. He had explained to Dave that this is what Klaus did. He ran away. He disappeared. Diego had been dealing with it his whole life. Still, Dave couldn’t help but feel a small seed of anger at Diego for giving up and declaring Klaus gone for the unforeseeable future. Diego said it was about time anyway, Klaus had been hanging around for months longer than he usually did.

Dave was having a hard time accepting that. 

All he knew was Klaus being around.

The only reason he finally came home was because after checking most of the clubs, bars, and back alleys in the general area he felt like he was about to collapse. His phone was about to die as well. He needed to come home and charge it, just in case Klaus listened to the startling amount of voicemails he had left him. He figured he might as well rest up a bit before going back on his search.

Dave leaned up against his counter and pressed his hands up against his head. A headache had been steadily forming in the last few hours but he had been too focused to pay it any mind. Now that he was home, the pain was hitting him full force.

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself, trying to remember if he had any pain killers left in his bathroom.

Just as that thought ran through his head he picked his head up with a furrowed brow.

“What the hell…?” he breathed out. 

It sounded like his shower was running.

Usually he would grab a bat or a knife and tactfully move towards a strange noise in his apartment; instead he fully sprinted to his bathroom.

Dave slammed open the door, flipped on the lights, and was immediately flooded with relief.

There Klaus was, sitting curled up on the floor of his shower, fully clothed, and soaking wet under the water.

As soon as Klaus’s eyes focused on Dave's, a sob tore out of his throat, “Dave.”

Dave quickly went to Klaus, his arms reaching down to pull the other man up. As soon as his skin touched the water he pulled his arms back with a curse.

“This water’s freezing cold Klaus, what’s the matter with you?.” he said, maneuvering himself in the shower so he wouldn’t get too wet as he shut off the water.

“Better question is what’s not the matter with me?” Klaus managed between stuttered breaths.

“Klaus…” Dave admonished as he quickly turned around, grabbing the closest towel he could find. He crouched down and wrapped the towel around Klaus’s shaking body, “Let’s get you warm, come here.”

He pulled Klaus up, who immediately fell into Dave’s body. 

Klaus was quietly crying and making no effort to hold himself up.

“Oh Klaus…” he said, both in relief and sympathy. Dave half-carried Klaus to his bedroom, plopping him down on the bed, not caring that he was soaking his bedcover. Klaus immediately curled into a ball on top of his bed.

“Klaus, you need to get out of those clothes. You’re gonna get sick.”

Klaus didn’t respond and Dave sighed. He went over to his dresser and picked out the most comfortable looking clothes could find, as well as grabbing another towel. Dave gently pulled Klaus up by his hands into a sitting position and stripped him down to his pants. 

He decided not to take off the pants, because knowing Klaus, whatever was underneath would have made Dave’s cheeks burn red.

He crouched down in front Klaus, who hung over the edge of the bed like a limp doll. 

“I know you’re tired but I got you some warm clothes, and there's another towel here,” he patted just beside Klaus where everything was, “I’m going to go into the kitchen, please get changed. I’ll be in there if you want to come out...or you can just go to bed. Okay?”

Klaus didn’t answer him.

“Klaus,” he said sternly.

Klaus’s head lifted and his eyes fluttered up to meet Dave’s. He nodded and grabbed the pile of clothes beside him, placing them in his lap.

Dave nodded back to him and closed the door behind himself as he walked to the kitchen. Then suddenly he was stood back at the counter he had just been leaning against ten minutes ago, worried sick about Klaus.

Had Klaus been here the whole time?

That was one of the many questions Dave had, but as they all came to the forefront of his brain it reminded him of the pounding headache he still had. He searched around through a couple of cabinets until he found a bottle of Advil and dry-swallowed three pills.

“Don’t tell me you’re picking up my bad habits.”

Dave startled and looked up to see Klaus standing there, wearing one of his oversized shirts and nothing else. Despite his joke, Klaus looked nervous and shy, his hands twiddling with the bottom of the shirt.

Dave lifted the bottle to show Klaus and shook it, “Just some Advil...That’s not the shirt I picked out for you, that’s way too big....And you’re not wearing pants.”

Klaus shrugged in response.

“Please tell me you’re wearing something underneath that,” he said, actively making sure to not drag his eyes down Klaus’s long, thin legs.

That seemed to almost bring a smile to the other man’s face and he lifted one side of the shirt up to reveal a pair of Dave’s boxers underneath.

“Okay…” Dave cleared his throat, “Okay, um...sit, please. Let me make you something, are you hungry?”

Klaus sat down on one of the stool’s at the counter but his face scrunched up and he shook his head at Dave’s question.

“Tea?”

“Dave, just...I won’t be offended. I know you’re too nice to just come out and say it but if you want me to go don’t pretend just for tonight. Just tell me to go.”

Dave walked over and leaned over, right across from Klaus. He put his hands on top of Klaus’s, “I don’t want you to leave. I don’t want you to leave tonight, or tomorrow morning, or ever, okay? Now...do you want tea?”

Dave watched Klaus’s tear-streaked face take in his words and the fact that he could tell Klaus didn’t fully believe them broke his heart.

“Well...what kind of tea do you have?” Klaus asked.

“What kind do you want?”

“Earl Grey?”

Dave smiled, “You’re in luck, I have Earl Grey.”

Klaus, who was usually bouncing off the walls with things to say, sat quietly. The whole time Dave boiled the water and prepared two cups of tea there was an unusual silence.

Dave brought the two steaming mugs over to his couch and as he sat placed them onto the coffee table before him, “Come sit with me?” he said, booking over at Klaus who was looking over at Dave from his stool.

Wordlessly Klaus walked over and sat on the other end of the couch. It saddened Dave how Klaus didn’t cuddle up next to him, how he usually did.

“Were you here the whole time?”

Klaus shook his head and reached over to grab his tea, “No…” he slowly took a sip before continuing, “I was-I only got here a couple of hours ago. I’m sorry about the shower...the water was piping hot when I first got in there...I definitely ran up your water bill…”

“I don’t care about my water bill, I’m just happy you’re alright,” Dave said, scooting towards Klaus and laying his hand on Klaus’s arm.

Klaus stared down at Dave’s hand and though he didn’t flinch away it looked like he wanted to. Dave let his hand drop awkwardly and shifted back, giving Klaus some space, “Look...we’re both tired. It wouldn’t be good to sit down and talk about everything right now...I haven’t even processed everything that’s happened. But can I just ask...Why did you come here if you thought I was just going to kick you out?”

“I just thought it would…” Klaus trailed off and wrapped his arms around his small frame, “I just want to go to sleep,” he practically whispered.

Dave’s chest tightened, “You can sleep here. You take the bed, I’ll stay on the couch.”

“What? Dave no-”

“I’ve slept in far worse conditions then this couch,” Dave said, “I want you to be comfortable.”

“I don’t feel comfortable when I’m alone…”

Oh

“Oh…”

“If you’re too disgusted by me now it’s fine but I-”

“Klaus?” Dave quickly interrupted.

“What?”

“Whatever you think I’m thinking is probably not true. You’re my best friend, I l-”

“Dave!” Klaus quickly interrupted, “Just shut up, I just need you to shut up and to cuddle me to sleep in your bed.”

Dave didn't think he would ever get used to how unpredictable Klaus could be. But that was the most like normal Klaus he had been since the shitshow at the diner so it bought him a bit of happiness.

“Okay…” he said, “Let’s go to bed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I know this is a short, awkward, filler chapter. I had a couple of other ideas for this chapter that were wayyyyyyyy sadder but I didn't want to do that to you guys. Like this is nothing compared to what else was going to happen...
> 
> That being said just prepare yourselves for a lot more angst.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Me posting another chapter in less than a day?? Wow :---)
> 
> (As always ignore any mistakes!!)

Dave learned a few things about Klaus that he didn’t know before going to sleep with him.

He learned that Klaus could not fall asleep when there was sunlight flooding the room, and since it was already eight in the morning, he got up and closed his heavy curtains.

He then quickly learned that Klaus could not sleep in the pitch black. So Dave turned on the small lamp on his bedside table, which had immediately relaxed a shaking Klaus.

Dave was also met with an armful on Klaus that had launched into him as soon as he settled in bed. He strung his arms around Klaus and held him tightly to his chest. Dave felt himself just about to fall into a deep sleep when Klaus whispered loudly into his ear.

“Talk to me. Just keep talking to me, loudly please.”

Dave learned that Klaus liked to be spoken to sleep.

So Dave spoke, loudly, to him. He talked about the book he was reading. He talked about his plans for the holidays and how was unsure about going back to Dallas to see his family, despite his mother’s insistence. He talked about how thankful he was that Klaus had come into his life, and how happy he made Dave.

Another thing Dave has learned about Klaus is that just as when he was awake, when he was asleep he was always moving. He squirmed and twitched, his feet wrestled together under the covers. Dave didn’t even realize he began rocking Klaus he spoke, but he kept doing it even when he felt Klaus’s breathing start to even out.

He stopped talking once he knew that the other had really fallen asleep and he leaned back a bit to watch Klaus’s sleeping face. Klaus’s eyebrows were drawn together in what looked to be confusion and strands of his short, dark hair were matted to his forehead. Dave brushed the hair away and appreciated how beautiful Klaus really was. How peaceful he seemed under the guise of sleep. 

Dave hadn’t been lying when he told Klaus how he hadn’t really been able to process anything that had happened.

Klaus was schizophrenic. Klaus took drugs to cope with his mental illness, even though he didn’t believe he had one. Klaus thought that Dave hated him now because of all this. That Dave was disgusted by him.

Of course none of those things were true, but in the whirlwind of Klaus’s abrupt departure he didn’t get to think about what it all meant.

Dave sighed and pressed his lips softly against Klaus’s forehead. He could think about it after he woke up.

Instead he let the relief of Klaus being safe, here in his arms, wash over him and he followed Klaus into a deep sleep.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Klaus woke up gasping for air.

He sprung up and clawed at his neck, tumbling out of bed as he untwisted himself from the blankets.

It felt like he couldn't breathe and his throat was on fire. Klaus somehow stumbled his way to the bathroom, and dropped into a kneel in front of the toilet.

He threw up.

Everything was too loud. Everyone was screaming at him and grabbing at him and he couldn’t breath.

He sat up, accidentally banging his head against the tile wall. He faintly felt blood trickle down the side of his face but it just mixed in with the beads of sweat.

“Stop. Stop...no,” he wheezed, closing his eyes as tight as he could. His body felt itchy and achy all over, it felt like everything around him was closing in.

It was getting louder, it was getting harder to breathe. He needed to make it stop.

There were hands grabbing at his body from all directions and he kicked his legs, used his hands to rip the hands away.

“No,” he kept repeating, “No.”

Suddenly he felt hands grab his face.

He reached out and hit in front of him without opening his eyes, feeling skin rip under his fingernails as he swiped.

Reluctantly he opened his eyes to see Dave with angry red claw marks adorning his face, his bright pink lips pulled into a surprised little ‘o’.

“Dave,” he cried, “Dave you need to leave. They’re going to hurt you, you need to get out of here.”

Just as he said the words he saw grey hands and blue eyes move in towards Dave.

“Dave,” his voice gave out on the word, “Please go. I can’t let them hurt you.”

He saw Dave’s lips moving but he couldn’t make out the words so he just kept shaking his head, fresh tears springing to his eyes.

“Please. Please,” he saw Dave reaching out to him and he shuffled away, “No, you need to get away from me!”

Dave shook his head back at him and reached his hands out, in a placating gesture.

Klaus whined and after a few moments of indecision he reached his hands to fit into Dave’s. 

Klaus knew Dave. His strong, sweet soldier boy. Dave wouldn’t leave him. So they had to stick together.

He twitched every time he heard a threat directed at Dave. They were going to hurt him. They were going to skin him alive, tear the flesh from his bones. 

Dave couldn’t see them, if he did he would have run away. Far, far away from Klaus but he stayed. He gave Klaus space, he held his hands. 

Klaus kept his eyes focused on Dave’s beautiful blue eyes. Blue like the sky...and Dave was his sunshine. His sunshine in the darkness he could never escape.

He loved Dave so much and he couldn’t breath.

He refused to look at the ghosts and just kept watching Dave. He gripped his hands tight and tried not to focus on the blood oozing from the cuts on Dave’s face. He tried to tune out the voices and listen to Dave’s deep, soothing voice one, but it was too hard. Eventually his body shut down, his mind faded to black and slumped down, falling back into a restless sleep.

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The second time Klaus woke up, he was too drained to feel anything besides numb.

He was back in Dave’s bed, curled up with Dave sitting beside him reading a small book.

The ghosts were gone and Klaus quietly watched Dave, enjoying the peace while it lasted.

“Look at what you did to him.”

Well Ben was never really gone.

Klaus ignored him.

“You hurt him Klaus. Remember what we talked about you, I told you that you shouldn’t have come here. It was stupid.”

“Soon. Soon,” Klaus croaked, “I just need to do this.”

“Klaus,” Dave said, placing his book down, “How are you feeling?”

“Like shit...I feel like I can’t move,” Dave moved closer to Klaus and leaned down, “Look at what I did you...” he whispered, brushing his fingers down Dave’s face.

Dave shook his head, “It’s not even going to scar. It looks worse than it is.”

Klaus sighed, and leaned back further into the pillows underneath him.

He felt horrible. Ben really was right, he should have stayed gone after he left the diner. Instead he had to make Dave’s life a little harder by coming to say goodbye.

“What time is it?” Klaus asked.

“3 P.M...It’s Tuesday.”

“Fuck…” Klaus said. They had all gone out to the diner on Sunday night. They must have slept all day yesterday, and then he probably slept all day today after the last time he woke up.

“You should eat something, tell me what you’re up for?”

Klaus grimaced at the thought of food.

Dave nodded, “Okay, I’ll just make you some toast then,” then he got up and trekked off to the kitchen. The last couple of says just felt like some sort of sick, twisted loop. 

He couldn’t keep doing this. He had to talk to Dave and then he had to do what he had to do.

“Well you should do it soon. You are weak...but especially when it comes to Dave,” Ben said, leaned up against the wall.

Klaus nodded and forced himself to sit up. He needed a hit before he could go back out to face Dave.

“You hid something under your pillow last night.”

Oh yeah.

He did vaguely remember taking something out of his wet pocket and shoving it under the pillow before discarding his soaking clothes on the ground.

Klaus reached his hand back under his pillow and pulled out a baggy with tan powder, “Bingo. Let’s do this.” he said rubbing his hands together.

He took the baggy and the other supplies he had stashed, bringing them into the bathroom just in case Dave walked into to see him. Downing pills was one thing, but he figured Dave would have a problem with him shooting up in his bed.

He walked out of the bathroom ten minutes later feeling much, much better. His body still felt heavy but mentally Klaus felt better. He felt ready to go out Dave. To apologize to him, to talk to him, to thank him.

“You’re disgusting,” Ben sneered at him as they made their way to the kitchen.

Klaus giggled, “I sure am baby!”

They walked around the corner, and Dave stood there smiling cautiously.

“Just in time. You’re food’s ready,” Dave said, nodding at the plate of toast set on the counter along with a big glass of water.

“Thank you…” Klaus said. He sat down and immediately downed all of his water, but cast a dirty look at the food on his plate.

“Eat.”

“You know I love when you get all bossy like that Dave.”

Dave didn't smile or laugh as stupid jokes like he usually did. He just poured Klaus some more water before walking around the counter, sitting down right beside him.

Dave always saw right through him.

“You need to eat Klaus,” Dave said bluntly.

There was a short, tense staring contest between the two of them before Klaus’s gaze broke under his. He begrudgingly picked up a slice of toast and took a small bite from the corner of it. The feeling of eating almost made him sick again.

Dave watched him take a few more bites before speaking again, “Can we talk please?” softer this time.

“Okay…”

Dave began, “I...I just want you to know, above everything else, that I don’t think of you any differently. I still care about you, I still want you to be my friend…”

His eyebrows were raised in a hopeful and open expression. Klaus wanted to believe him so bad. He didn’t need Ben whispering in his ear to see what was right in front of him. Klaus was fucked up, he brought pain and disaster wherever he went. He was useless. Dave had to have known that from the beginning. But, the normal boy-next-door type that Dave was could never go through the last two days that he had and still want Klaus in his life. 

Klaus was probably just some passing phase to bring excitement to his early thirties. Klaus wasn’t worth the work. And whether or not Dave knew that, Klaus knew it. And he wouldn’t put Dave through the trouble. Dave deserved so much better than that.

“Okay Davey,” he said softly.

“You don’t believe me…”

A small smile appeared on Klaus’s face and he shrugged, “I can’t help the way I think…”

Dave’s face fell, “We can work through this though, right?”

“Sure Dave.”

“So then talk to me Klaus…” Dave scooted closer to Klaus, his eyes bright and pleading, “Tell me how you’re feeling.”

“Oh please don’t do this Klaus, you damn idiot,” Ben said.

Klaus cleared his throat, “Can I tell you about...it?”

“Of course,” Dave said at the same time that Ben rolled his eyes with a muttered curse.

The room was tense again, Klaus stared at the ground as Dave stared at him but he couldn’t meet the other man’s eyes. He scratched his fingers up and down his legs and tried to relax into the hazy sensations littering his mind.

“It started when I was little. I couldn’t always see them but it started with them whispering...I couldn't even make out what they were saying at first but my family just chalked me off as a looney tune. It didn’t get really bad until I was a teenager...,” he looked at Dave with wide, glassy eyes, “The voices got louder and then I started to feel them...See them…”

He took another pause. His mind was swimming and he felt so small, so scared. Klaus figured he might as well go all out though, bare himself completely open to Dave. So he sucked in a deep breath and continued.

“I-I was so scared all the time...I couldn’t leave the house, or my room. I couldn’t sleep. When I was awake I saw them but when I was asleep it was...the nightmares were even worse so I would just be up for days at a time. And then I would have to be put in the hospital, and then they would put me on drugs to make me sleep. And then they...One day they said I had schizophrenia… They said what I was seeing wasn’t real...It is real though, Dave. How can what I see, hear, and feel not be real?”

Klaus scoffed, his eyes had wandered away from Dave’s very quickly. It was hard to look at him. He didn’t really want to see what Dave was thinking, “I-Well...The rest of my shitty existence doesn’t matter but after that diagnosis things got really, really bad…” he shuddered, “I...I think I’m done talking about that for right now actually...” 

“I’m-Klaus I don’t know what to say...I’m sorry for everything you went through, I don’t know exactly what happened but I tell you exactly what I told Diego- You’re strong. And I’m proud of you.”

Klaus rolled his eyes, “What exactly did Diego tell you?”

“Just what you heard and...that you’ve had a really rough go.”

A chuckle bubbled from Klaus’s throat.

“Diego probably told him how much of a fuck-up you are.”

“Jesus Ben, get some new material. Come up with something original, yeah? I’m pretty sure Dave is well aware.”

“Yeah, but Dave doesn’t know...everything does he?”

Klaus’s jaw tightened.

“Klaus? Ben’s here?” Dave said, twisting his body to look around the room.

Warmth spread in Klaus’s chest as he watched Dave. He sat there and looked around for a ghost he could never see, just because Klaus saw it.

Klaus ignored Dave’s question though and carried on with one of his own, “Do you believe me Dave?”

“Huh?” Dave whipped his head back to him.

“Do you believe me...That I can see dead people? That I’m not fucking schizophrenic?”

“I...believe that you see them,” Dave said slowly.

“But you don’t believe I’m not psychotic?”

“I don’t-”

“Dave I...I mean it makes me sick to my stomach that Diego told you what he did. I never want you to find out those lies that the doctors and my siblings all believe...You were different. You were my escape and now,” he sighed, “Now it’s ruined.”

“It’s not ruined,” Dave said heatedly, “What we have is still different. I...care about you, Klaus. I told you I don’t think of you any differently than I did two days ago.”

“Probably because he always thought you were crazy…” Ben chipped in.

“What, because you always thought I was crazy?”

“Don’t talk about yourself like that...I do not think you’re crazy. And I will stand behind whatever you say. I’m not saying I think your schizophrenic but Diego was right about one thing.”

Klaus’s face scrunched up, “About what?”

“You...You need help.”

Klaus flinched back.

“Please don’t look at me like that,” Dave said softly, “Not me...I’m not saying doctors or anything like that and I’m not forcing you into anything. I’m just saying...you don’t deserve to live like this. And I want you to get better so that you can be happy.

There Dave went again, not knowing what Klaus really deserved.

“It’s now or never Klaus, just do it now.”

Klaus looked over at Ben and then back at Dave, he could feel the devastation breaking out on his face, “I have something to tell you…”

“What?” Dave asked quickly, moving in even closer.

“I-There’s a reason I came back here.”

“You mean there’s a reason you broke into my apartment and used my shower until the water ran cold?” Dave said it like a joke, hopefully to break the tension but it also sounded like a plea. Like he knew what was coming.

“I...I came back to say goodbye.”

“Goodbye?”

“When I left that diner I should have stayed gone but I couldn’t...I had to come back one last time”

“But….” Dave blinked, “But you’re telling me all of these things, I thought we were going to talk about things. We were going to fix everything...together.”

“I can’t,” Klaus said, his voice breaking.

“What does that even mean? Of course you can-”

“I can’t. I told you, there are things going on with me. Things have changed since Sunday night.”

“So you think of me differently now?”

“No! No- Dave. Never. I can’t even describe how you make me feel but I just have to go. Please don’t make me stay.”

“I would never make you do anything,” he whispered. Klaus said nothing and looked away when he saw a tear slip down Dave's face.

“Are you going to come back?”

Klaus breathed out, “I don’t know Dave, I don’t know…”

“You were gone all night, I just got you back. We talked, I thought we were going to be okay...I still don’t understand."

“I can’t explain why, but I want you to know this isn’t because of you. I-I love you Dave.”

Dave somehow looked more hurt when Klaus said those words.

“I’m not going to stop you...But please, please promise me that you’ll come back to me.”

“I can’t keep that promise,” Klaus said, shaking his head. How was Klaus supposed to know whether he would live long enough to see his way back to Dave? He couldn't take the chance of lying to Dave.

“Klaus. Please.”

Klaus just kept shaking his head.

“Then take me with you.”

“What? Dave-”

Dave walked closer to Klaus and reached up to pull off the chain that had been resting around his neck. He stared at his dog tags for a moment, now clutched in his hand, and then reached out to give them to Klaus.

“Dave?” Klaus squeaked, not moving to take them.

Dave sighed and placed the chain around Klaus’s neck, “Here. This was I’m always with you, always protecting you. And then one day, you can come back and return them to me.”

Klaus’s bottom lip started quivering uncontrollably. How could he explain to the beautiful man standing before him that he was always with Klaus? That Klaus carried him as a compass, conscience, and heavy weight in his heart. 

“Dave-”

He was suddenly cut off when Dave leaned down and pressed his lips to Klaus's. 

Words could never describe the feeling of love and peace that spread in his chest. The feeling of security as Dave held onto his face and their mouths slotted together. 

They pulled away too soon and looked at one another with tears in their eyes.

Eventually Klaus backed away and reluctantly walked to the front door of the apartment. He opened the door and paused, looking back at Dave.

“Goodbye Dave.”

“Goodbye Klaus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thoughts??


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave goes to a strip club!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well...here's this...

It’s funny how time passed.

One day Dave was eight years old playing catch with one of his brothers on a sunny day and then, next thing he knew, he turned around and he was thirty-three, tired, and alone.

One day he was sitting on his couch, clutching his stomach with laughter as Klaus told him some elaborate, wild story and then suddenly Klaus was no longer around.

It only took two weeks for Dave to admit that Klaus wasn’t coming back.

Two weeks of checking his phone every minute. Two weeks of calling Diego every night to check in, to ask if he had heard from or seen his brother. Two weeks of watching out his window; or when he was at work, whipping his head up at the sound of the bell jingling on the door as it opened. Two weeks of leaving lights on in his apartment at night, just in case Klaus snuck his way in.

Klaus never did.

And so Dave let everything Diego tried to tell him sink in. That Klaus was just gone. Maybe he would show back up one day, but not anytime soon. 

So Dave learned to live without Klaus. He didn't realize that was going to be a hard thing to do.

The scratches on his face faded away, the bare feeling on his skin where his dog tags used to lay remained. The questions of “Has he come back yet?” eventually turned into silent looks of pity.

But he would still catch whiffs of cigarette smoke and jasmine in his apartment that Klaus had left behind. When he closed his eyes he could still feel Klaus tucked under his arm. The feeling of Klaus’s lips never left him.

If anything, it haunted Dave.

And then so suddenly it had been almost four months since he saw Klaus. They had been apart longer than they had ever been together. Yet Dave felt empty, the loneliest that he ever had. He never remembered feeling this way in his entire life.

Heartbroken?

It didn’t matter how long Dave knew Klaus. He missed him more than words could ever articulate. He missed him more than any of the men he ever had actually dated. Klaus completed something in him. Klaus made him feel happier, lighter. Klaus was beautiful and magnetic and…

He was gone, and Dave felt it every second of every day.

Dave rarely spoke about it with any of his friends, or even his sisters and mom. How could he explain how much a man he had only spent about three months, and was never technically romantically linked with, meant so much to him. Sometimes he talked about it with Diego, he was the only one who understood. But talking didn’t help, so he and Diego rarely spoke about Klaus the few times they did meet up. 

Dave found himself sighing his way through life, just counting down the days until Klaus came back.

He had never been a big club or party guy, but he would go out with his friends consistently enough. Now, if he did go out it was rare and only because his friends physically dragged or threatened him out of the door. His amazing friends did what they could to cheer him up.They set him up on dates that Dave never went to, they tried to take him out and get him laid, thinking that would fix everything.

One Saturday night in early April found him in a strip club.

This was one of the few times he had come of his own volition. It was for one of his good friend’s bachelor parties. Dave would feel like a bad friend missing out on that.

Dave was not the biggest fan of strip clubs, they made him feel gross and sleazy. He almost wished that it was a bachelor party for one of his straight friends, that way he didn't feel guilty and predatory for checking out naked woman. But no, here he was in a gay strip club surrounded by naked, wild men.

The music was too loud and the patrons surrounding their table were brazenly creepy, and loud with their offensive jeers.

Dave sat there, quietly sipping on his beer. He tried his best to not be too quiet, to laugh and smile when he was supposed to. To seem okay. He didn't want to ruin the fun on his friend's night.

Apparently he didn’t do that good of a job.

“What’s wrong Katz?” said one of his other friends, Dan.

He had plopped down next to him, and threw an arm around Dave as he spoke.

“What?” Dave threw on a smile, “Nothing, why?”

Dan gave him a disbelieving look.

“What, man?” Dave laughed, “You know how I feel about these places.”

“Hmm...So this has nothing to do with Klaus, right?”

Dave shook his head, “I promise you I'm fine.”

“Hey, I never met the guy but I've known you for years and I've never seen you like this, Dave...Just want to make sure you’re alright buddy”

“I'm good, seriously, ” Dave said.

The other man nodded and stood up, “Great, so you don’t care that I found the prettiest twink I could and bought you a lap dance, right?” he yelled over the pounding music.

“What? Danny, no-”

Dan just grinned and skittered away, probably off to the bar.

This was truly the last thing Dave needed.

A few minutes passed, and he kept wringing his hands together and looking behind him. He really didn’t need or want some pretty twink grinding up on him. He felt nervous and he was seconds away from going outside for a breather.

With his head turned towards the door, finally having made the decision to escape the immensely awkward situation waiting for him, is when Dave felt the weight of a body plopped into his lap.

He turned back around, “Oh I don't-”

Oh.

The last thing he was expecting was for the pretty twink his friend had paid to give him a lap dance to be…

“Klaus?”

“Oh my gosh! Dave?” Klaus said excitedly, “I couldn’t even tell it was you until now…” Klaus brought his hands up to cup Dave’s face, “How are you, man?”

Dave was still slack jawed in disbelief. He looked up at Klaus who was sitting on him, his long legs dangling against Dave’s thighs and off the side of the chair. Klaus looked...horrible.

He looked happy, his eyes were shining and caked in deep black eyeliner and glitter. He was grinning maniacally. None of the emotions from when they last met seemed to touch Klaus now, he seemed free.

It frightened Dave.

Klaus had lost so much weight. His ribs were showing, his face was sunken in. His tan skin had turned dull.

“I-I’m good,” Dave answered shakily, “How have you been Klaus?”

Klaus’s grin widened, “Oh that’s great Davey! I’ve been doing awesome, I’ve had this gig for a while. It’s not too bad.”

“That's good Klaus, I’m glad you’re doing well.” Dave didn’t even know what to say. He didn’t even know who he was talking to. This person didn’t look like Klaus, or feel like him or sound like him.

“I am! And oh, what a reunion this is, huh? Your friend brought me back to you like this,” Klaus rocked forward, “You must thank him.”

Dave gently pulled Klaus’s hands away from his face by his wrists and shook his head.

Klaus just kept smiling at him and leaned forward to whisper against Dave's ear, “Let’s go talk somewhere more private, yeah?”

At that Dave glanced over beside him at his friends. They were all grinning and winking and being generally crude. Most of them had met Klaus and they didn't even recognize that the man sitting on his lap was him. It was probably a good idea to go talk somewhere. It was hard to hear with the music and there were too many people watching them. He wanted to actually talk to Klaus.

“Good idea,” he replied, “Where should we go?”

“Oh I know a place.”

Suddenly Dave found himself being pulled through sweaty bodies, deeper into the club. There was a hallway with stark, glossy black doors. The hallway was littered with what were obviously bouncers.

Klaus stopped in front of one of them, saying something Dave couldn't hear.

The man nodded and opened the door and winked at Dave, “Enjoy,” he said.

“Uh…?”

Klaus pulled him into the room and Dave was suddenly thrown onto a small couch. And then suddenly Klaus had thrown himself back onto Dave. His knees were on either side of Dave’s legs. He was only wearing an, extremely mini, pink pleated skirt that fanned out over his legs. His face was pressed into Dave’s neck.

“Klaus, what the hell?” Dave sputtered.

“Mhmm...What? Your friend paid for a private dance,” Klaus said, as if what was happening wasn’t completely insane.

“Klaus...no. I-I don’t want a dance. My friend was just being a dick and...We need to talk.”

“Sorry sweetheart, I already got paid so I got to give you the goods. Club rules.” his face was still pressed into Dave, so his lips brushed against his neck as Klaus spoke.

Dave shivered, “No. Klaus, get off of me.”

Klaus gave a sad moan, “What Davey, don’t you like me anymore? Don’t you think I’m pretty?”

Dave felt like he was going to throw up.

Klaus’s hands were roaming all over Dave’s body, under his shirt, wrapped around his neck. He was, almost violently, nuzzling into Dave and grinding himself into Dave’s lap.

Dave couldn’t take it anymore, he stood up. 

He miscalculated his force versus Klaus’s fragility. Suddenly he was standing over Klaus, who had fallen to the ground on his knees.

Klaus looked up at him. For the first time that night Klaus looked hurt.

“Fuck Klaus, I’m so sorry,” he crouched down and Klaus immediately backed away from him.

Dave gulped and stood back up, “I-I’m sorry. I just...I didn’t want that from you.”

Klaus nodded as if he understood but he started sniffling and his throat bobbed, a prelude to oncoming tears.

Dave needed to say something, this was his chance.

“You left and I...I still can’t wrap my head around it. We were happy together weren’t we? Overnight everything went to shit and then you were gone and you’re here again and I don’t want to lose you again…”

Klaus’s face scrunched up and he finally began to cry.

“I-I’ve missed you...so much. Please tell me that you’ll come back to me.”

Klaus shook his head quickly.

“Klaus?”

“Don’t you understand? Don’t you get it? It doesn’t matter! It doesn’t fucking matter!”

“What doesn’t matter?”

“Us...Me. I’m not...You don’t….” Klaus took a deep breath, “You need to forget about me...You can fuck me now, if that will help. You’re friend didn’t pay for that but I won’t tell my boss-”

“Klaus!” Dave interrupted, not wanting to hear more, “I-no. No! I’m not...fucking you and I’m not forgetting about you. You do matter. You do matter to me...more than anything in the world. And screw Ben or anyone else that makes you think otherwise. Okay? I...I want to help you. I…You kept them?”

Dave’s eyes had suddenly caught on the small pieces of metal hanging on Klaus’s skin. How did he not notice them before?

Klaus must have realized what he was talking about because he reached up and clutched the tags in his hands. As if on autopilot he brought them to his lips and kissed them, like a silent prayer. He looked back up at Dave, ashamed, “You uh...You can...have them back if you want…” 

Dave noticed he looked scared as he said it. 

This was definitely what heartbreak felt like.

“Even if you wanted me to take them back, I wouldn’t. They’re yours now.”

“Do you hate me?”

“I love you.”

Klaus looked down at the ground.

“Please come back with me Klaus. You’re...You’re for me. I want to be for you...I need you.”

Klaus finally looked back up, his eyebrows creased together and his eyelashes sticking together with tears and make up.

“Klaus-”

“Go away Dave.”

It looked like it took all of Klaus’s strength to even say those three words, and afterwards he looked tired and drained and devastated.

“Is that what you really want?”

“...Would you kiss me again, before you go?”

Dave could feel his heart seize in his chest.

“No,” Dave said, shaking his head.

“Then just….go away then. I want you to leave...Now.”

And then suddenly Dave’s feet were leading him out the door, away from Klaus.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even know anymore guys. I'm trying my best to write well and not abandon this story...
> 
> If I do finish it though I promise it will have a happy ending so there's that.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay.
> 
> First of all, I must of course apologize for my horrible editing skills. but more importantly!!
> 
> I have a whole chapter of (super!!) cheesy, dialogue-heavy, fluff. So...

“Hello.”

Silence.

“Hello?” Dave repeated.

“...Dave?”

Dave shot up from where he had been laying in bed.

It was nearing four in the morning, Dave had been sleeping when his phone had rung. The first time around he had ignored the ringing. But, with a defeated huff, he had picked up the phone when it went off again less than a minute later. He had barely even opened his eyes, just grabbed his phone from the bedside table and fumbled with it until he pressed the right button to accept the call.

Now Dave was, all of a sudden, wide awake.

“Klaus?” he breathed out, “Klaus, are you there?”

“...I’m here.”

“Hey, it’s...it's so good to hear from you.”

And it was. It had been only a month since that night they met in the strip club.

Despite what happened, seeing Klaus again that night had helped Dave in some way. Of course it hurt, knowing Klaus was out there in the state Dave had found him in. But, he was able to tell Klaus how he felt better than the night when Klaus had left him. 

There was a small bit of twisted closure that had come from that night at the club. 

And when Dave walked away that night some part of him knew it was the right thing to do, instead of forcing Klaus to come back with him, or trying to convince him to.

Klaus just wasn’t ready.

Klaus hummed, “I wasn’t completely sure on whether or not you would just hang up the phone once you realized it was me…”

“Really? How could you not be sure?”

He could almost see Klaus’s cute pout and small shoulders shrugging over the phone, “Just wasn’t…”

“How are you, Klaus?”

“I miss you, Davey”

“Me too…”, Dave smiled, “...I’m here whenever you’re ready to come back?”

A sigh.

“I want to...but I-I can’t…”

“Yes, you can. I’m right here...waiting for you.”

A scoff.

“You’re too good Dave...”

Dave stood up and made his way into his kitchen to make himself a cup of tea, “No, I just love you,” he said easily.

A shaky breath.

“Why?”

Dave filled his kettle with water and gave himself a moment to think.

“Because you’re you...I don’t need any other reason than that.”

“Jesus, Dave...Why are you like this? How do you...How do you make me feel the way you do?”

Dave chuckled, “Honestly Klaus, I could say the same thing for you…”

A pause.

“So you felt it then, right?”

“You mean when we…?, Dave bit his lip and leaned against his kitchen counter.

“Yeah.”

“Of course I did,” Dave closed his eyes, and brought himself back to that moment, when Klaus’s lips met his. When his heart was ripped in two and mended back together all in the matter of a single kiss.

“It was...I’ve never felt like that before when I’ve kissed somebody.”

“Neither have I…”

There was a lapse of silence, a few minutes. Though there was only the sound of each other’s breathing, it wasn’t awkward. Dave could probably stay on the phone in silence with Klaus all night.

In that time his kettle began to whistle, so he poured the steaming water over the tea bag, into a mug he had set aside before.

“What are you making Davey?”

“Tea.”

“What kind?”

“Earl Grey.”

Klaus laughed on the other side of the phone, “You don’t even like Earl Grey tea.”

Dave scoffed, “You don’t know that. I’ve drunk it loads of times with you before.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t like it…”

“But you did.”

“I don’t remember there being a rule that you have to eat or drink things you don’t like just because I do.”

“You're right. But...It reminds me of you...And that feeling outweighs the taste to me.”

A moment of silence.

“You are so fucking sappy, Dave,” Klaus groaned.

“You say that but I know you’re blushing.”

“Of course I’m blushing,” Klaus’s tone was almost accusatory, “...I really will never be able to make you understand what you do to me, Dave.”

“You should come over and try to make me understand anyway.”

“...Was that a come on?”

Dave laughed, “Let me rephrase, why don’t you come over and I can pour you a cup of Earl Grey tea and we can talk...maybe kiss?”

Klaus hummed, “That sounds so nice...and we could cuddle, right?”

“Of course, Klaus.”

“Fuck, I mean have ever mentioned how big your arms are? You could really choke me out with those things,” a pause. “It’s so hot.”

“You’re crazy,” Dave laughed.

“Yeah...I know.” Klaus sighed.

“But I love it.”

“Is this your way of saying that you have a kink for psychos or that you have a kink for choking me out...because honestly I would be fine with either.”

Dave jaw tightened, “Klaus,” he admonished.

“Okay, okay sorry. Didn’t take you for such a prude.”

“I’m not. You’re just...not here.”

“Hey, I offered myself up to you last time we were together-Wait that really happened, right?”

Dave winced, “That really happened...And if you think it would have been okay for me to take advantage of you or to do that to you, well...that is exactly why I didn’t.”

“...Is that why you never tried anything before I left? I mean I wasn’t even sure that you liked guys.”

“I wanted to, Klaus. Of course I wanted to…” his voice shifted into a whisper for a moment, “...do stuff with you. I’ve never been more attracted to somebody in my life, romantically or sexually. But it wouldn't be right to have done anything then...It wasn’t the right time for us to go that way in our relationship,” Dave sighed, “I want that with you though, one day…”

“Only once I’ve been institutionalized and pumped up on anti-crazy drugs, right?”

“Klaus, that is not what I want from you. And that’s not what Diego wants either. We don’t want to change who you are, we love who you are...But you’re not happy. And you’re not safe.”

Another sigh.

“I’ll keep that in mind but...Can we actually just not talk about all of that right now? I didn’t want to talk to you about that… I just wanted to hear your voice.”

“Klaus,” Dave huffed, “I’m just thankful that I’m talking to you at all, we can talk about whatever you want.”

“Okay...So tell me more about what we would do if I came over. We would kiss and cuddle and...what?”

“Well after I had you fed and put in some warm clothes I would pull you down onto my lap and wrap you up in my arms and hold you tight...and then...I would tell you how much you mean to me…”

“Yeah? W-What would you say, Dave?”

“I would tell you how my whole life...My whole life has been this layout of what I was supposed to do.I got good grades in school because it was the right thing to do. I went off to go fight in a war because it was the right thing to do...I was being the man I was supposed to be, just like my father and uncle...And when I got back, I got a steady job. A steady place.” 

Dave took in a deep breath before continuing.

“ I’ve never been unhappy but I-I’ve never been happy and then…And then I met you and everything changed. As cheesy as it is it’s like everything became more...vibrant? I’m not too good with words but you-It’s like the whole world was opening up around me, leading up to when we kissed and that was like...I know exactly what that felt like, like a huge bucket of ice water got dropped on my head. You woke me up...I feel like I’m not, I'm not just living step-by-step, in this redundant cycle anymore...I feel free. You did that...you made me feel alive, awake...for the first time in my whole life.”

A sniffle.

“Dave…”

“Don’t cry Klaus,” he chuckled, “That isn’t even the half of it.”

“I’m not…” but his voice sounded strained.

“No wonder you don’t come to see me anymore, every time we talk I make you cry.”

“It’s only because I love you so much, dear.”

“How much?” Dave asked.

“Do you really want to know?”

“Please?”

“Hmm...Well I obviously had a much different life than you. There was a plan and restrictions about how I lived my life...But it didn’t matter I ended up being...too much, too crazy, kind of fucked with all of the plans dear old daddy had for me,” he sighed, “So my life had just been one big jumbled disaster...Everything is always too much or too crazy and it never stops and it’s always too loud and always hurts too much and then...Oh Jesus Christ Dave, and then you came into my life, and for the first time in my life I felt safe. When I’m with you I feel warm, I feel calm, I feel accepted….I feel like everything is going to be okay.”

“Everything is going to be okay.”

A shudder.

“Remember last time, when you said that I’m for you? Well I am, I’m yours Dave. I’m all yours…”

“You’re mine…” Dave repeated dumbly.

“I am. And I...I have trouble sometimes, especially now...figuring out if you're just a figment of my imagination or if you’re real but you are, I can feel it in my heart...And even if you aren’t you have given me hope and peace…And I-I can’t even imagine that somebody like me could make you feel the way you say I have-but I have Dave...Somebody like me did that for somebody like you and it makes me feel like I could…like we could be happy…”

Dave could feel his heart beating quicker in his chest. Klaus’s words made him feel hope. Klaus said it, he said that maybe one day they would be happy. Them, somebody like Klaus and somebody like Dave.

“We could get married,” Dave said abruptly.

“Dave! You’re trying to make an honest woman out of me, huh?” Klaus joked, but Dave could tell that he was thrown by the suggestion.

“We both know that to everybody else it seems insane but we know. We know that we’re it for each other. When you...when you come back to me we could get a place together, start a life, get married. Why not?”

It was all just a fantasy. Maybe, one day far in the future Dave hopes it could be a reality but for now, it was just a fantasy. Klaus had obviously called him for some reason, to prove some point to himself. And Dave was more than ready to prove his point. To show Klaus that they really, one day, could be okay.

“Wouldn’t it be too soon. Do I even really know you? Do you even really know me?”

“I love you being the voice of reason in this scenario, it’s adorable,” Klaus whined his name on the other end, “Okay, maybe I don’t know you but...I know you. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“Yes.” Klaus said quickly.

“Then will you?”

“Will I what?”

“Marry me? One day?”

“Only if you promise to never stop loving me.”

Dave scoffed, “I don’t think that would ever happen, I don’t really have a choice in the matter anyway...So I guess I’m gonna have to get you a ring.”

“No!-” Klaus abruptly, “I mean...No just...I don’t want a ring, just please let me keep your dog tags?”

Dave was surprised at the request until his mind thought back to that night in the club. To the way Klaus held onto his tags, and looked at them, and kissed them so reverently.

“I told you, they’re yours now.”

“But you gave them to me so I had a reason to come back, to give them back to you and I don’t want to-”

“I want you to have them. I trust that you’ll come back to me anyway.”

“The fact that you put any trust in me scares me.”

“I know why you’re saying that Klaus, but you’re wrong. I trust you, I know you...You’re mine, remember?”

Klaus let out an incomprehensible noise.

“I love you Klaus.”

“I know,” Klaus said happily, “Dave Katz loves me.”

“Do you know when you’re coming back Klaus?”

A pause.

“Dave. I don’t know where I am, what time it is, what day it is, what year it is. If you asked me if I was alive I couldn’t give you a definitive answer.”

Dave nodded, “Okay Klaus….Okay.”

“But I know that you love me now…”

Dave sighed, “You don’t know where you are though? Are you still working at that club?”

“Oh that place? Nah, I got bored of it...Or maybe I got fired, I don’t really remember. But I’m okay. I’m in a house at least...I don’t really know whose but...that's a step up, right Davey?”

“I guess...Just...I need you to come back to me safely and in one piece. Just please promise you’ll try to keep yourself safe?”

Klaus laughed.

“I’ll be back...Some day and in some way. I-I promise you that.”

“You have I idea how happy that makes me…”

Klaus hummed, “I want to come back and kiss you and cuddle you and be loved by you and marry you.”

“Well...You know where I am. I told you, I’m just here waiting. I could wait forever for you.”

“You really know how to lay it on thick Katz, I think if you talked like this to me before I would have melted into a puddle.”

Dave laughed.

“I know it’s late...but would you talk to me until I fall asleep?” Klaus asked shyly.

I would do anything for you.

“Of course, Klaus.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I obviously could write a lot of angst, but I actually felt bad that the last few chapters have been so sad so this was the best I could do?? I don't even know if I can write fluff or if this was good but I hope you enjoyed?
> 
> Please leave any questions, comments, requests, or concerns that you have! I love hearing from you guys:)


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After their phone call a few weeks ago, Klaus shows up to see Dave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (New chapter- so new warning that I do not spend a long time on editing!!)
> 
> Okay so I don't think last chapter was as good as it could have been so I'm here to redeem my own writing?? Maybe?

“Dave!”

He wasn’t even given a chance to say hello before he got cut off.

“Clara...Hey, is everything okay?”

He honestly thought that maybe Clara had mistakenly called him before he had picked up the phone. It wasn’t that they never talked, but out of everybody in the bookstore he was closest with Lucy; and she rarely ever called him. Dave just hoped that everyone was okay or that nobody had called out sick. He had just gotten home from his teaching job a few hours ago and he did not feel like doing anything other than relaxing on his couch for the rest of the night.

“You need to come down here,” she said.

“Um…”

“Klaus is here.”

Dave startled, “What?”

“Klaus is here, in the shop. He came looking for you. I told him I would call you to let you know he’s here…”

Dave was already pulling on a jacket and searching for his shoes, “Okay. Okay, thank you for calling me, Clara. I’m on my way...Is he okay?”

There was a pause before Clara replied, “He’s...You should just get down here.”

Dave nodded, forgetting for a moment that she couldn’t see him, and thanked her again before saying goodbye and hanging up the phone.

Why had Klaus shown up all of sudden?

He ignored the part of him that told him something bad had happened. Maybe Klaus was just ready to come back to him. 

There had been a couple of other phone calls since that first one, a few weeks prior. They would flirt and joke around, talking about their cheesy hopes and dreams for the future. Maybe Klaus calling him was his way of testing the waters, to see if Dave meant what he said and felt how he said he felt.

Dave was forced to go to the bookstore on foot. His car had completely given up a couple of months back. Living in a city, he couldn’t find a suitable reason to buy another one. So most places he walked to or took the train. He did enjoy his walks to work but after Clara’s call, he was practically sprinting to get to the store. His blood was rushing with adrenaline, and nerves, and excitement. 

Klaus had seeked him out. Klaus wanted to see him.

Klaus really might be ready to come back to him.

So Dave raced all of the way there, stopping only once he got right outside of the front opening. He took a couple of minutes to catch his breath and to anxiously wipe the front of his shirt down. He didn’t want to seem too eager.

Finally, after composing himself, he walked in. Upon entering the threshold, standing there right in his line of vision, was Klaus.

Based off of the last time he saw Klaus, he wasn’t expecting him to look good but Dave felt himself freeze looking at the other man.

He had been extremely skinny before but now he had lost even more weight on top of that. Dave was surprised he could even stand on his own two feet, that’s how small he had become. His sunken face had become skeleton-thin, his eyes were more present but encircled by puffy and purple skin.

He didn’t have a chance to feel the sadness overtake him about his appearance once Klaus began to run toward him. He immediately circled his arms around Klaus’s waist and lifted him off the ground. It felt like he was picking up one of his nieces, and not a six foot tall man. But, like Klaus had a tendency to do to him, he was sucked in immediately by his presence and his current thoughts flittered away. Dave’s mind became enraptured with that familiar smell and by the smooth, exposed skin touching his fingers. 

Suddenly he was consumed by giddiness and he spun Klaus around in a circle a few times. Once they stopped Klaus was still giggling into his neck and he was still smiling into Klaus’s.

He didn’t know how long they were standing there in the middle of the store but eventually Dave heard Clara clear her throat.

“Um...Did I miss something?”

Right. 

This wasn’t really a typical reunion between people that weren’t romantically involved. 

The last thing Clara remembered was them being very close friends, who liked each other but didn’t really act on it. She also didn’t know about any of his run-ins or interactions with Klaus since his departure. So of course, she was probably very, very confused.

When Dave thought about it, it was very strange that they somehow found themselves having moved in a romantic direction within their relationship, mostly while they had been apart.

Klaus didn’t lift his head from Dave so Dave just gave Clara an awkward grimace and a shrug.

Clara, the angel that she was, gave him an understanding look. With that and a small wave she left, probably to go attend to something in the shop, but mostly to give them some privacy.

After a while Klaus finally pulled away, but only so much that their faces were barely an inch apart.

Dave watched Klaus’s chapped lips as they parted to say, “Dave.”

Dave’s face twitched, “I can’t believe you’re here,” he raised his hands to cup Klaus’s face, “In the shop, with me. It feels like old times…”

“Hmm...I had to come here. I missed you…”

“I know,” Dave teased.

Klaus pouted.

“You know I missed you too, Klaus.”

“Well you don’t have to miss me right now. I’m here...with you.” Klaus shifted closer, moving to kiss him.

Dave shifted away and cleared his throat, “Wait um...We should go sit down somewhere.”

Klaus looked up at him with bright eyes and nodded, “Alright, lead the way sergeant.”

He led Klaus right out of the door, the sun immediately warming their skin. Together they walked into the little coffee shop down the block. Dave found them a nice, comfortable couch in the back and they sat down, side by side.

It really was strange, having Klaus with him here. It felt like a dream.

“Why are you here Klaus?”

Klaus’s eyes flitted all over Dave’s face. He didn’t seem completely strung out, but there was something off about him that he noticed back in the club as well. He had seen Klaus as high as he could possibly be, but whatever he was on now was different. Dave almost didn’t want to know what.

“I wanted to see you.”

“Are you staying?”

Klaus sighed, “I don’t know…”

Dave held down his own sigh. He should have expected it, he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

“It’s okay, Klaus. You can just say no and then we don’t have to bring it up again. We can just spend the night together.”

Klaus’s eyebrow raised suggestively.

“You know I don’t mean it like that,” Dave said.

“I know, I know. You’re just so fun to tease...But okay, I’m not staying. I-I can’t...Wasn’t even supposed to come here,” Klaus’s last sentence was mumbled very quietly.

“Why not?”

Klaus’s head snapped up quickly, “Huh?”

“Why were you not supposed to come here?”

Klaus shrugged, “I’m not supposed to talk to you...let alone see you….B-Ben gets mad at me.

Dave took a moment to let those words sink in.

“...I don’t think I like Ben, Klaus.”

Dave was met with a frown, “Hey, that’s my brother. H-He’s been helping me.”

Dave didn’t really know what he was supposed to say. Of course Ben was a real person, and had been Klaus’s brother. But this Ben, that Klaus saw, it was some horrible twisted voice in Klaus’s head. There were too many times that he figured out things that ‘Ben’ had been telling Klaus to think that he was helping Klaus in anyway.

“How is keeping us apart helping you, Klaus?” Dave asked, genuinely confused.

“It’s complicated, I-I don’t want to talk about it,” Klaus tilted his head to drop it into the crevice of Dave’s neck. 

Dave figured that anytime they were led into a serious discussion that Klaus would immediately dismiss it. It made him sad to think that all of these interactions he was having with Klaus were not getting them any closer to fixing anything. It just scared him to think what had to happen to really make things change; to get them out of this cycle they had found themselves in. Where the same things happened again and again in different ways but nothing really changed.

“We’re just going to spend the night together...and be happy, right?” Klaus continued.

The phone calls and him showing up to see Dave, they were just ways for Klaus to cope. He was still going though whatever he was going though, it was probably getting worse but he still wanted to see Dave.

That didn’t make Dave feel better.

“Klaus,” he said softly, “I’m not going to force you to talk about anything...But I hope you know that you can talk to me or come to me about anything. Anytime. I don’t think you know that and...you don’t look okay.”

Klaus grunted, “So what?”

“Klaus-”

“Please Dave, please. I just...I need you to hold me like you said you would that one time...I don’t want to talk about Ben I just...I need to feel you.”

“Look at me?”

Klaus looked up.

Fuck, Dave would never get over how pretty Klaus was.

“Do you remember what else I said I was going to do when we were together.”

“Uh...You said you were going to cuddle me…”

“And what else?”

“And tell me how much you love me?”

“Yes, but what else.”

“Y-You said you were going to kiss me?”

Dave nodded, “Do you want to kiss me, Klaus?”

Klaus stared up at him, his mouth parted, “Yes,” he whispered.

They both closed their eyes and moved closer to each other. Before their lips could touch, however, they were interrupted.

By Dave.

Dave had flinched back so hard that it had scared Klaus. Klaus probably would have been sent crashing to the ground if Dave didn’t reach out to grip his hips and hold him in place.

Klaus looked up at him, his expression hurt and confused.

“Was that like...some kind of practical joke?”

“What no, of course not! I wanted to kiss you-I want to kiss you…”

“Then why can’t you? You said you wanted to, you brought it up.”

Dave opened his mouth to reply but it just hung open.

“You wouldn’t kiss me at the club either.”

Dave sighed.

He had a better understanding of why he wouldn’t kiss Klaus then. He was completely strung out, practically naked, and crying on the floor. In Dave’s eyes, to kiss him then would have been an insult.

But in that moment, at the coffee shop, he realized that there was some kind of mental block happening. Klaus was right, he said he wanted it and brought it up but before they could kiss he had to pull away. He just hadn’t been able to do it.

“Do I...Do I disgust you now?”

“Klaus, no...No,” Dave shook his head vehemently and leaned forward to kiss Klaus’s cheek, “I’m just afraid, I think.”

When Dave pulled away Klaus’s fingers reached up to delicately stroke his fingers along the spot on his face that Dave had kissed, "Afraid? Of what?”

“I’m…” Dave huffed, “I’m afraid to lose you. I’m afraid that when we kiss it’s going to be a goodbye and that I’ll never see you again.”

“Oh…”

Dave watched as Klaus processed what he said, still touching along the skin of his cheek. It was true, he was afraid. He thought about it every morning when he woke up and it kept him awake some nights to know that Klaus could just be gone.

When he recited his nightly prayers he added in a prayer of protection for Klaus, one that was supposed to guide him and keep him safe.

“You shouldn’t be scared of me dying Dave, if it happens it happens. But I’m here with you right now...So kiss me, silly.”

Dave’s jaw locked. He truly did feel bad, that Klaus was doing so bad that he felt himself forced into contact with Dave in order to keep it together. That he came to him to be happy and forget for just a small moment in time.

“Klaus, I really can’t sit here and pretend. It’s hard for me to shut off what’s going on. That you’re leaving again, that each time I see you you’re withering more and more away...That I’m scared for you.”

“I told you, you shouldn’t be. It’s not worth worrying about what is inevitable.

“Please don’t say that, Klaus.”

“I’m sorry Dave...I don’t want to see you hurt. That’s the last thing I’d ever want, “ Klaus nodded along to his own words, “Trust me on that. But I had to see you...I had to.”

“I know.”

“So please,” Klaus pleaded, “Pretend...for me?”

Fuck.

“Okay...Okay.”

Klaus’s face immediately shifted into a big grin.

“Why don’t you stay here for a minute, then? I’ll go order us something?" Dave said.

Klaus apparently did not want to leave his side at all, so together they walked up to the counter. Klaus had wrapped his arms around one of Dave’s arms like a teddy bear.

He ordered them both tea and some pastries, immediately having the urge to feed Klaus.

When they went back to the couch, Klaus did not let go of his arm. Honestly, Klaus holding onto him like that was so adorable he didn’t have it in him to ask him to stop, even when he started to feel his arm fall asleep.

So in between sips of his own drink, he brought Klaus’s cup to his lips for him. Klaus thankfully accepted but when Dave brought one of the desserts up for Klaus to take a bite of Klaus shook his head.

“I can’t eat right now...I’ll throw up.”

“Are you feeling alright?”

“No. Just...tummy’s been a bit messed up as of late.”

“Do you want me to get you something else, something lighter?”

“No Dave,” Klaus chuckled, “I’m not even hungry, couldn’t stomach anything you got for me.”

“Mhmm...You need to eat more.”

“Okay mom I’ll try, I’ll try,” Klaus said.

Dave shook his head in amusement as Klaus finally let go of his arm. The smaller man leaned forward and picked up a chocolate croissant off of the table before them.

“Open up,” he said, bringing the pastry to Dave’s mouth.

Dave opened up obediently and bit into the croissant, moaning at the rich flavor.

Klaus smirked, “Got to keep my man happy.”

“It would make me happy if you ate something,” Dave said.

Klaus rolled his eyes, “Stop ruining the moment babe.”

“Sorry sweetheart,” he laughed before taking another bite from the offered dessert.

“Happy to see you didn’t lose your sweet tooth.”

“Don't think you have to worry about that ever happening,” Dave said.

Klaus hummed, “...Did you end up going home for Christmas?”

“I don’t celebrate Christmas,” Dave reminded him, “But I only get time off around Christmas, so technically I did go home to my family on that day.”

“What kind of desserts did your mom make for you?” Klaus asked excitedly.

Dave smiled, “Well since she knew I was coming she made a million things. Was kind of sad I couldn’t bring you, wanted you to finally try my mom’s pie.”

Klaus’s face scrunched up, “You would have brought me home to meet your family?”

“I was going to ask you to come with me, once I had decided if I was going or not...But then I didn't get a chance to before, you know…”

“Ah...It was probably for the best anyway. I’m not the kind of person you’d want to bring home to meet the fam.”

“Well it wouldn’t really matter what they think anyway because I’d want you there,” Dave said.

Klaus dropped the half-eaten pastry back onto the plate so he could wrap his arms around Dave, and snuggle his face into his neck, “You really make me feel all warm and tingly inside Davey,” he cooed.

Dave dropped his face into Klaus’s hair, “My mom and sisters would have adored you...My mom would have spent the whole week cooking and baking for you and forcing food down your throat.”

“Mhm...I think I would have adored your mother as well.”

“Plus she would have slapped the shit out of my brothers if they tried anything with you,” Dave said.

“I think the one thing I can probably handle on my own are brothers. I did grow up around a wide selection of different assholes.”

“Speaking of, you should probably talk to Diego. He’s worried about you.”

“Oh fuck Diego, he's a dick...Wait do you still talk to Diego?”

“Yes, we’ve kept in touch.”

Klaus grumbled for a bit but eventually came out with, “How is he doing?”

“He’s okay, just worried about his little brother.”

“This is all his fault anyway.”

“Come on Klaus, you know that’s not true.”

Klaus lifted his head up for a moment and bit his lip, “Yeah, I know. Just...please tell him I miss him next time you talk to him?”

“I will,” Dave smiled, “It’ll make him really happy.”

There was a pause before Klaus spoke up again, “...So anyway, you would risk taking shit from your brothers and dad just to bring me home with you?”

“I-”

“Would you beat up one of your brothers over me? Wait, are they as big and strong and handsome as you because watching two Katz boys fight could be super sexy.”

Dave couldn’t help the smile that Klaus put on his face, “I love you.”

“Mhm...I love you too, Dave. So much.”

Dave kissed the top of Klaus’s head and ignored his previous question, “And we’re still getting married, right?” he spoke into Klaus’s curls.

“Yes, and then I will finally be Mrs. David Katz. All the other girls in town will be so jealous.”

Dave snorted, “Are you gonna wear a dress?”

“Hmm...I don’t know. I’ll definitely be wearing heels though!”

“Well, whatever you wear I know you’ll look gorgeous.”

He shivered as he felt a kiss be pressed into his neck.

“Yes, I’ll make sure to do myself up super pretty just for you Davey.”

“Can’t wait...All the other boys in town will be so jealous.”

Klaus giggled and Dave picked his head up, “Hey Klaus?”

“Hmm?”

“Look at me?”

Klaus looked up at him and this time when they leaned in to kiss, Dave didn’t stop them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for everyone who reads, leaves kudos, and comments on this story<3
> 
> Please let me know if there is anything you want to see in this story or let me what you think! I'd love to hear from all of you and want to make you all happy!!


	13. Chapter 13

Hi everyone who reads and enjoys this story, just a little note/update...

So, I've been going through a really tough time on top of being insanely busy with my job and school. So I'm sorry to anybody that liked this story about the sudden lack in updates. That being said, I think that I may be done writing it.

The main reason is...quite simply that I think that my writing sucks. Not just in this story, but with everything I've written on here(that's why I've deleted some of my works after posting them). So I think I may be done posting anything else on ao3. I have so many ideas but I just can't write them well. I may also delete this story and my soulmate one, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do yet.

For anybody that reads this, has left kudos, or comments on this or any of my stories I am sorry and I really do love and appreciate you!<3


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